


Ripples Across Time

by TheCurvedWritingDesk



Category: Asuras Bride (Webcomic), Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Love, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:33:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26223436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCurvedWritingDesk/pseuds/TheCurvedWritingDesk
Summary: Tora learns more about his ancestors than he was ever counting on knowing.
Relationships: Poppy/Tora, Ulaan/Yuwa
Comments: 112
Kudos: 193





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The characters of both Midnight Poppy Land and Asura's Bride belong to the incredibly talented and greatly appreciated Lilydusk. I just like playing with them ;P
> 
> So, I suffer from insomnia when I get overly stressed. Despite today being a cake walk when it finally did happen, the anxiety and excitement leading up to it kept me up all night and the first five chapters of this and an almost complete 'Request' story were the result. So instead of just hanging onto it, I'm throwin' it out there. The request will be up later this week. Enjoy! As always, let me know what you think ♥
> 
> Songs:  
> I Feel The Earth Move by Carole King

“King Asura is presumed to have been one of the most successful kings in all of Narin’s history as he quelled and united the vast kingdoms that used to divide our nation. It was only through…” Poppy set down the phone receiver and moved along the display, eyeing the map of ancient Narin that took up the majority of the wall in front of her. The Shan Kingdom, the Qian Li Kingdom, the list went on. She was stunned by how mountainous the western region was. Tora had made a comment once about Narin having lots of peaks like the one he’d taken her to but she’d never paid much attention to it. Now though, she understood. She couldn’t believe she’d waited this long to visit the Narin National History Museum. This place was incredible.

She moved on to the next display, eying the robe inside. It was beautiful and obviously ancient. She read the small display case tag detailing what is was made of, how old it was and where it’d been found. It was a recreation of the original which was on display beside it. The original had been broken down over time and only scraps of it remained. Tora’s arms circled her from behind, “you’d look cute in that,” he told her seriously. 

Poppy cocked a brow at that, “why? Because it’d cover me head to toe?” she asked in amusement studying the high embroidered collar, the tunic robe that went to the knees and thick leggings that were paired with it. Northern Royal woman’s ensemble indeed.

Tora chuckled, “ya know I like keeping all that skin to myself, but no I really do think ya’d look nice in it.” He told her as he took her hand and wandered over to a weapons case, eyeing the different swords inside. “Hmm, look at that, I didn’t know ya could engrave swords.”

Her eyes scoured the case trying to determine what he was talking about when her gaze landed on it, a huge sword with kanji engraved into the blade. The first character was faded to the point of being illegible, the rest of it read _respected warrior, trusted friend._ Poppy giggled, “Certainly sounds like a good guy, whoever it belonged to,” she commented in bemusement. She eyed the bow staffs on the next wall before turning to ask him a question, “I know you’re good at hand to hand, but did you ever do anything with this kind of stuff?” she asked.

Tora grinned at her; she normally wasn’t one to take an interest in his defensive skills. He shrugged, “a little when I was studying different disciplines. I know how to use a staff, and I know the basics of a sword from ceremonial shit but naw, guns, knives and bare knuckles are my thing sweetheart. It’s not very often someone comes at me with a sword,” he joked.

Poppy nodded as she continued to peruse the displays, she stopped in front of an exhibit on ancient tattooing. Tebori. She smirked and looked over at Tora who was still admiring the weapons. The images were beautiful. She loved reading about how they were once used to denote rank and status, that they were often earned and a way to intimidate others on the battlefield. She grinned and looked over at Tora, picturing him in some of the armour they’d seen earlier. She pinched herself, to distract herself from her lecherous thoughts. No matter how hard she dug her nails into her flesh though, she couldn’t shake the vision of him in armour, a sword on his hip, braids at his temples. Damn her and her overactive imagination.

Tora turned, feeling the weight of her gaze on his back. He grinned at the look in her eyes, “just what are you getting so excited about?” he teased closing the distance that separated them.

Poppy squeaked and turned away from him, her eyes flitting rapidly over the information cards in the display as he swept her hair back from her shoulder, dipping his mouth to the skin of her neck. “Look Tora it’s your-” she stopped, exhaling on a sigh, her eyes sliding closed as he nibbled on the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

“Huh?” he asked, his lips dancing across her skin as he moved them closer to her earlobe.

“Peonies,” she murmured.

He smiled, turning her away from the display, “ya can run your hands over my tattoos when we get home sweetheart, not here though,” he teased.

Poppy rolled her eyes, moving towards the roped off display in the middle of the room. She cocked her head to the side as she ran her eyes over each piece of jewelry. The hair pin was unassuming, two delicate silver limbs elongated stiffly from the beautiful jade center of the Peony flower that decorated it. It was elegant and she was absolutely enraptured by it. Tora watched from a short distance away as Poppy stared longingly at it, she wasn’t quite able to put her finger on what drew her to the piece, there were many more stunning and flashy items in the antique jewelry box but this one was breathtaking to her. She leaned a little closer, her fingers clenching and unclenching with a desire to cradle it.

“Careful sweetheart, ya lean any further over that barrier and you’ll fall,” Tora warned, striding towards her, catching her arm in his hand as he drew her away from the velvet roped off display. He glanced down at the jewelry box, curious as to what had her so captivated. The lid on the ornate box was open and the top shelves swung out to the sides, each drawer containing lavish rings and bracelets. The bottom drawer was pulled open, displaying a variety of gaudy hairpins. The jade one was nice though. He smirked to himself; certain it must be the one that drew her attention.

He looked down at the small woman standing by his side. She was looking at it the same way she looked at him after he’d been away for a few days in a row. He glanced around the deserted museum, there was no one. They’d been alone most of the day with the exception of a grumpy security guard that had trailed them the first hour of their languid tour, giving him the stink eye. Once he’d seemed to assure himself that Poppy was actually enthralled with the exhibits and Tora was simply there as her escort the guard had continued his regular rounds, leaving them be. Tora was looking for him now. Seeing no sign of him, he closed his eyes for a moment, training his ears, listening for the sound of footsteps. All he could hear were the faint splatters of raindrops against the large windows along the far wall.

Opening his eyes, Tora reaching forward, over the barrier and plucked the hair pin out of the box to the sound of Poppy’s horrified gasp. “Tora!” she hissed, “put that down! What the hell do you think you’re doing! You can’t touch artifacts!” She scolded vehemently.

Tora cocked an amused brow at her, “if they didn’t want people to touch them, they woulda put these behind glass like the rest of this shit,” he reasoned, gesturing at the encased displays around them.

Poppy glared at him, “put it back Tora you can’t _steal_ from a museum!” she whispered, “these things belong to everyone, they’re our collective history, they’re put out so that the public can view them!” she lectured.

Tora smirked, tilting her chin up to him with a knuckle before tucking her hair behind her right ear, “hush, I’m not stealing, it’s just pretty like you and I want to see what it would look like in your hair.” He explained, moving to place the pin over her ear.

She stopped him, a gentle hand on his wrist, the other on his opposite forearm as she worried her plump bottom lip with her teeth. “Tora no, you shouldn’t, you should put it back, this has to breaking all kinds of museum rules,” she argued, not normally one for doing things that could get her into trouble.

He smiled at her, “come on Bobby,” he leaned down to kiss her gently, “it’ll only be for a minute, what’s the harm? I’ll put it right back.” He reasoned.

She glanced at the pin in his hand, and then around his shoulder at the empty room and hall behind him. Perhaps he was right? Was it no big deal? No alarms had sounded when he’d picked it up, no security had come running to put him in cuffs and drag him away from her. She sighed eyeing the sign on the platform beneath the table supporting the jewelry box. The harsh thick black letters reading PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH disagreed with Tora’s earlier logic. She looked up at his face, his eyes glowing with mischief and amusement; she could almost see her own uncertainty reflecting back in their honeyed depths. 

Tora leaned down again, moving close enough so that his lips brushed the shell of her ear, “I thought ya liked the fact I make ya a little wilder. Just try it on, I’ll take your picture, if ya like it I’ll have a forger make ya one.” He offered.

Poppy blinked up at him as he retreated, extremely tempted by his offer. It was beautiful and the idea of having a copy for herself she could wear anytime she wanted was making her heart flutter. She normally didn’t care about jewelry but this particular piece was drawing her in the same way Tora had drawn forth her heart from its chest cavity so he could hold it captive.

Tora smiled warmly at her, she was caving, he could tell, just one more little push, he placed his free hand on her waist, “A flower for my flower, it’ll look beautiful on ya,” he whispered, tucking the elegant pin over her ear.

In that moment, time stopped, Poppy and Tora exchanged glances, hers horrified, his anxious as they felt the world shift around them. Her grip on his forearms tightened until her nails bit into him almost painfully as she attempted to steady herself. He tangled his hand in the hair at the nape of her neck reflexively, his opposite arm anchoring her to him as it circled her waist. He felt ill as he closed his eyes, holding onto her for dear life, burying her face in his chest.

When the world stopped spinning a moment later and the earth didn’t feel like it was shifting under their feet any longer, Tora opened his eyes as Poppy pushed away from him and dropped to her knees, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the _grass_ beneath her. Tora watched her back as she wretched again, her purse strap draped across the back of her yellow dress. He moved to hold her hair back for her as he glanced around, the unease in his stomach growing. The clearing they occupied was making alarm bells ring internally, his ears trained on the river moving behind them and the splatter of rain against their bodies as his eyes searched the treeline in front of them.

Tora prided himself on being an intelligent and logical man. However, no matter how he wracked his brain there was no logic as to how he and his girlfriend had closed their eyes in a museum a moment ago, and opened them a second later _in the fucking woods_. “Poppylan, are y’okay?” he asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice as he rubbed small circles against her back with his palm.

Poppy wiped her mouth and glanced around, her stomach rolling for an entirely different reason now. She fixed her eyes on his as she rolled back away from her vomit and onto her knees, “Tora?” she pleaded with him questioningly.

He rubbed his palms up and down her upper arms as comfortingly as he could, as she shivered, the contact helping his own nerves. Touching her was always calming for him, “I don’t have a fucking clue but we’ll figure it out okay?” he promised, unzipping his sweater and shrugging it off so he could pull it around her, trying to shield her from the rain. He pulled up the hood and leaned down to kiss her gently on the forehead as her eyes welled and her lower lip trembled. “Don’t cry love, I’m right here, I know it’s scary but I’m right here with ya,” he promised, trying to comfort her.

Poppy threw herself into his arms, this was wrong. Tora was wrong. This wasn’t scary. This was _terrifying_. She felt him stiffen against her, his head lifting away from her back, one of his arms tightening around her as the first moved to his boot, reaching for his switchblade. “What is it Tora?” she whispered, still crushed to his chest.

“Shhh,” he ordered, his eyes trained on a spot in the treeline over her head. Slowly he released her, rising to his feet, “get behind me,” he demanded, cradling his knife in the slight curl of his fingers so it would appear as though he were unarmed.

Poppy peeked around one of his powerful arms, her hands on his lower back, tangled in his short sleeved t-shirt as two men stomped into the clearing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two like I promised :) I'll have that request I've been working on either up tonight or sometime tomorrow. Enjoy!
> 
> Songs:  
> Any Road by George Harrison  
> White and Nerdy by Weird Al (Tora's perspective on his new friends)

Ryusaki and Haruto pulled their mounts into the clearing, intent on watering their horses when they noticed the oddly dressed man before them. They exchanged looks as their eyes travelled over the visible tattoos that decorated the man’s massive arms. He was a good half a foot taller than both of them. Ryusaki’s eyes narrowed as he studied the peonies that decorated his left arm. “Haruto, he’s an Asuran warrior,” he warned.

Haruto nodded, having already noticed the mark of the king on him. He must be a very skilled and high ranked soldier to sport the king’s symbol so flagrantly and over so much skin. He had no desire to fight this man. “We have no quarrel with you soldier, we only wish to water the stallions,” he offered peacefully, surprised the man carried no sword.

Tora eyed both men suspiciously, doing his best to keep his face placid. Their dress was fucking with him. Both of them were wearing leather armour over tunics. What the actual fuck was happening right now? He’d been prepared for junkies or gangsters dropping a body or even teenagers up to no good, not fucking reenactors. “Who are ya?” He demanded.

Ryusaki and Haruto exchanged confused glances at the man’s informal speech, Haruto noticing the small face peeking out from behind the giant man for a fraction of a second. “We are soldiers, like you, we serve the king. Are you in distress brother?” Ryusaki called to him through the rain.

“Tora?” Poppy questioned from behind him, he ignored her, “I’m fine, do whatcha came here to do and then go,” he demanded, having expected names and not the response he’d received. Either way, the dorks seemed to think they were on the same side. That was good right?

The men approached cautiously, leading their mounts to water, keeping the man and the small girl in their peripheries as they stepped away from them, maintaining the distance between them. Haruto glared at Ryusaki as the man’s eyes lingered on the delicate set of legs he could see between the giant man’s. “Keep staring like that and you’re asking for trouble,” he warned in a harsh whisper, patting the neck of his horse, “the man is a small mountain.”

Ryusaki smirked and kneeled to splash water over his dirty face, “it’s been a long time since I’ve had a woman brother, you can’t blame a man for staring. She doesn’t even look like she’s been touched by the pox. Her skin is lovely,” he murmured only loud enough for Haruto to hear, “I’d like to see the rest of her.”

Haruto arched a brow at his brother in arms, looking back at the strange man and the naked female legs visible behind him. He sighed; they must be in distress, why else would the soldier be unarmed and the woman missing half her skirt? He turned to face the man, “Brother, are you sure you don’t require any assistance? We will make camp not far from here tonight. You have no sword, horse or saddle bags? Would you have your woman sleep on the ground with no coverings?” He ventured cautiously. The man just stared at him like he had three heads.

Poppy stepped out from behind Tora for the first time, both Haruto and Ryusaki’s brows rising in confusion. The woman was even more oddly dressed than the man. She was wearing a fitted brightly coloured dress than ended at her knees and what looked to be a very odd oversized cloak. Her shoes were ridiculous for travel, black round toed slippers, not fit for the wild at all. Poppy glanced down at her rain soaked flats, trying to figure out what was so interesting about her shoes and the bottom of her legs. “Can you tell us where we are?” she asked.

Tora’s brows narrowed in anger at the lust he read on the kneeling man’s face. “You know naught where you are?” Ryusaki asked, a smile curling his lips as Poppy shook her head. “Has this man kidnapped you?” he asked.

Haruto slapped him in the back of the head, “Don’t ask questions. It’s none of our business how he came to possess her. She is very obviously under his protection so don’t go getting any stupid ideas.” He snapped before turning to Tora, “I apologize for him, are you lost as well brother? Or would you prefer the woman not know her whereabouts?”

Tora did his best to keep the confusion off his face. They thought he’d kidnapped Poppy? What kind of fucked up storyline were these nerds playing? He frowned; he didn’t know these men and didn’t want to admit any kind of weakness, least of all being lost. “We have no idea where we are,” Poppy replied for him as he shot her an annoyed look.

Haruto nodded, a little confused as to how the man could be lost, “you are a day’s ride from Olzii brother,” he supplied, his eyes fixed on Tora.

Tora fought the urge to roll his eyes, he needed to clarify though, “You mean Narin city?” he asked in annoyance. Both men stared at him in utter confusion. Jesus these guys were into their game. He wracked his brain, trying to remember the map of ancient Narin he and Poppy had looked at earlier.

Poppy narrowed her brows annoyed the man had addressed Tora and not her. In fact, aside from the kneeling man staring at her shins, both weren’t acknowledging her at all really. She was about to open her mouth to reprimand the man when Tora’s fingers tightening on her forearm stopped her. “Olzii, as in the capital of the North West?” he bit out, his face pinched with annoyance. Haruto nodded, studying the large man carefully. 

Poppy blanched, her stomach rolling as Tora asked about the city that was now nothing more than ruins they had read about at the museum earlier that afternoon. “That’s not possible,” she whispered, “it was destroyed, it doesn’t exist anymore,” she muttered. It hadn’t existed for hundreds of years!

Tora’s brows narrowed in confusion. These guys were hella committed to whatever game they were playing. Why couldn’t they just say Narin City? It was obvious he and Poppy were not participating in their farce so why continue the act? And what the fuck was she getting so worked up about? It was obvious these dweebs were out in the bush role playing wasn’t it?

Ryusaki smiled at her, “no woman you are mistaken, King Asura has rebuilt it. It was razed but still stands, you look like a woman of Shan.” He spat on the ground beside him, signalling to her just what he seemed to think of the Shan, “Your people have been conquered. Your emperor bows to our king now. He’s taken your princess as wife,” He taunted, the rain’s light drizzle running over his armour.

Poppy had no idea how to respond to that, “Travel with us brother, we are headed to Olzii,” Haruto offered, hopeful that Ryusaki’s words had not offended the man.

Tora looked down at Poppy who was gazing up at him desperately trying to communicate something with her eyes he didn’t understand. He didn’t mind the heavier man but the leaner of the two was still looking at Poppy with desire and it made him weary. He wasn’t sure about spending a night in the wilderness but it sounded a hell of a lot better than spending any more time with these nutcases. Poppy might be comfortable with them but she had also proved herself to be overly trusting on more than one occasion. “No, move along,” he ordered, lacing his voice with as much intimidation as he could muster. He and Poppy were going to walk until they found a road. Then he was going to call Gyu to come pick them up. They weren’t going anywhere with these men.

Haruto shrugged as Ryusaki glared at him, “very well brother, fare well,” Haruto offered as they took hold of their reigns and stomped back into the woods from whence they came.

Poppy watched their backs until she could see them no longer. Once they were gone, Tora returned his knife to his boot and placed a guiding hand on her lower back, “come on sweetheart,” he directed as he stomped through the underbrush, keeping them parallel to the river. She watched as he pulled out his phone, glaring at the screen before shoving it back into his pocket. “No service?” she guessed. He nodded but didn’t turn to look at her, too lost in his own thoughts as they continued walking. “Those men weren’t normal Tora, they were dressed like the mannequins in the museum,” she commented. He nodded again. “They said they were going to Olzii,” she added. He stopped walking and turned to face her. “Tora Narin City was built over Olzii’s ruins,” she whispered, fear making her voice tremble. Tora nodded again. She squeezed his hand, “Tora are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked, her voice laced with worry.

He tightened his hold on her fingers and cocked his head to the side, “That those crazy mofo’s are taking their LARPing game _way_ too seriously?” he offered, unsure as to why her voice was so warbled.

“L-larping?” she asked, utterly confused by his reply. That hadn’t been what she’d been hinting towards at all.

He nodded, “yeah, Gyu told me about it, fuckin’ nerdy ass weirdos wander into the woods and play dungeons and dragons type shit through role play. Think they’re elves and goblins n’ other crap. These guys obviously think they’re ancient Narin warriors or something. Or maybe they were reenactors? I’m leaning towards Larpers though cause from the reenactor stuff Quincey’s dragged me to there are usually a lot of them playing out one battle or another.” He explained.

Poppy bit her bottom lip feeling incredibly silly. For a moment there she’d been convinced they’d time travelled like some of the heroines in her highland romance novels. “Oh,” she commented quietly, blushing.

He cocked a brow at her, reaching out to tuck a wayward strand of her hair back under the cover of his hood, “what were you thinking?” he asked, his voice laced with amusement.

Poppy shook her head, “nothing, I have an over active imagination,” she explained still trying to figure out what had happened. If they hadn’t time travelled they’d at the very least teleported like in Harry Potter or Dr.Who. She reached up and grabbed the jade hair pin from above her ear, tucking it into the safety of purse. Was it a port key? Were witches and wizards real? Was magic real? That thought made her smile. She liked the idea of that a lot better than the notion of being stuck in the past.

Tora watched with a small smile as various emotions flitted across Poppy’s face. He loved watching her think; she made the most adorable expressions as new ideas hit her. “Let me in, what are you thinking?” he asked.

She shrugged, “nothing, silly things from si-fi fantasy stories I enjoy that wouldn’t make any sense to you. I’m just trying to figure out how we got here, kinda letting my imagination get the better of me…”

He frowned and nodded, still deeply disturbed by their predicament. He chose to remain silent, not wanting to show her how uncomfortable he was, unwilling to discuss the experience before they were safely back in the city. He reached back into his pocket for his phone, punching the number two on his speed dial before pressing it to his ear. He frowned and shoved it back into his pants a moment later. “Let me guess? Still no service?” she asked. He nodded as she pulled her phone from her purse, gazing at the screen. “Me neither,” she muttered. “Maybe we should have asked those guys to take us to the nearest road?”

Tora shook his head, “naw sweetheart, I didn’t like the way the one was looking at ya, we’ll find it ourselves,” he assured her, continuing their walk. In truth though, he wasn’t sure how confident he felt about that. He’d wandered the woods in the dark before, usually to dispose of a body, but he was by no means a survivalist. He was used to the dangers of a concrete jungle; he’d grown up between the shadows of skyscrapers and the nondescript dealings of alleyways. Being out here presented all kinds of dangers he’d never worried or thought about before now. He was well aware he was out of his element and he didn’t like it in the least. The sooner they found civilization the better.

He held his hand out to her, forcing a smile onto his face, “come on Bobby, let’s get home.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to remind you guys my writing can get kinda dark, I studied military history in uni and I'm married to a soldier that teaches hand to hand combat. He helped me with the fighting in this chapter while I was editing so it'd be realistic. And I have every intention of keeping this story as realistic as possible when it comes to battles, fighting and war. (Well, with the exception of time travel of course :P) So, you know. Dark shit ahead intermingled with smut and fluff. For those of you waiting for him, Ulaan will make an appearance in the next chapter.
> 
> That said, I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think! :) ♥
> 
> Songs:  
> I Will Follow You by Said the Whale (Tora & Poppy) - total kickass song check it out! + one that always makes me think of these two  
> We've only just begun by The Carpenters - read into this one however you'd like ;P

They had been walking for roughly a half hour with Poppy noticed the slight tinge of red in the river beside them. She didn’t comment though, just kept walking, trailing Tora. They’d realized a few minutes into their hike that it made more sense for him to stamp down the ground under foot so she could follow as the tall grass and encroaching tree roots and branches made it difficult to walk side by side. She glanced down again, eyeing the odd colour every few minutes as it became darker. She looked up at Tora’s back in time to see it stiffen. “Tora?” she whispered. He didn’t move, just stood rooted to the spot, the rain running off his damp hair and over his soaked back.

Tora stared down at the freshly dispatched corpse ten feet in front of him, the shoulders and face of the stabbed body partially in the water. He clenched his jaw, his training forcing him to run his eyes the length of all the exposed skin, searching for identifiable markings, he had a few scars, a particularly nasty one on the back of his right forearm, but no tattoos. In the second it took him to inhale, his eyes scanned the surrounding area before returning to the face down corpse, there were no weapons lying around, no baggage, no nothing. Just a fuckin’ corpse in his path and no sign of a struggle, he’d very obviously been stabbed multiple times in the back. Either by someone he trusted or someone he hadn’t seen coming. The dirty body was dressed in a tunic, much like the two men that had stumbled across them in the clearing. He wasn’t sure what this meant exactly but it definitely wasn’t good, the blood was still pooling and flowing freely into the river courtesy of the rain. He hadn’t been dead for very long. “Close your eyes Poppylan,” he instructed gently but firmly, “tell me when they’re closed.” He demanded, not willing to turn lest she see what was in front of him as he did so. He knew the breadth of his back and shoulders was the only reason she wasn’t upset right now. As far as he was aware, she’d never seen a murder victim before and he’d prefer to keep it that way.

Poppy frowned but did as he requested, “they’re closed Tora,” she murmured to him. He asked her to keep them closed as he picked her up and moved away from the body and the river, into the copse of trees on his left, determined to get her as far away from the crime scene as possible. Once the rush of the river was naught but a distant noise he set her down and told her she could open her eyes. “What was that about?” she asked.

Tora frowned, he hated the idea of lying to her and he didn’t want to do it, but he didn’t want to upset her either. They were already lost in the woods with no idea how they’d gotten there; he didn’t want her to be aware that they were lost in the woods with a killer among the trees as well. “Dead bunny, didn’t want ya to cry,” he lied, as he marched forwards, his back to her so she wouldn’t see the falsehood in his eyes. He was a pretty good liar, but not with Poppy, if she could see his eyes, she could always tell when he was being deceitful.

Poppy’s brows narrowed for a moment, watching his back as he stepped away from her. She wasn’t sure why he was lying to her right now but she was absolutely certain the blood she’d seen in the river had to have come from something much larger than a rabbit. Whatever he’d seen had upset him though and he obviously didn’t want her to see it. It was why she’d agreed to readily to close her eyes, she wasn’t about to argue and give herself nightmares. 

She rushed forward and took his hand, holding fast to it as they moved through the woods together, the rain finally stopping. Poppy pushed down Tora’s hood and glanced down at her legs, she was covered in scratches from the twigs and branches that reached for her bare skin. One had had a thorn that had snagged her calf badly enough to break the skin. “Tora, will you stop a moment please?” she asked softly.

He glanced down at her, releasing her hand as she reached into her purse, drawing forth a bandaid to place over her small cut. He frowned, her legs were gonna be completely torn up by nightfall if they kept this up. They needed to find a road. He glanced down at her shoes, they were a problem as well, he thought as she reached out a hand to steady herself against him as she popped one off to shake out the debris from the forest floor that had found its way inside and then the other. “Want me to carry ya?” he offered.

Poppy smiled up at him, “I’m okay, maybe later, if it gets worse?” she replied. He nodded and waited for her to slip back on her shoe before taking her hand once again.

~ ~ ~

The sun was beginning to set when Tora finally began to seriously worry. They had been walking for hours and had yet to come across any sign of civilization whatsoever. No cell towers, no marked hiking trails, no power lines. Hell, they hadn’t even come across any litter. Poppy was being a real trooper but he knew her feet must be beginning to blister. He didn’t relish the idea of stomping through the woods in the dark, and he liked the idea of forcing her to do so even less. He glanced around at the trees surrounding them and willed an idea to come to him. He had a knife, his lighter, his cigarettes and the clothes on his back. That was it. Fuck. Not much to work with. He pulled his cigarettes from his pocket and lit one, taking a deep drag as he stomped forwards.

Poppy glanced up as she followed Tora, noticing the smoke rising from the tree tops to their right. “Hey Tora,” she prompted, trying to get his attention as he stomped away from her. “Tora,” she said, rushing after him, grabbing onto his shirt. “Tora look!” She told him pointing at the smoke. He followed the line of her finger before frowning down at her. “Somebody must be camping! Maybe they can help us?” she reasoned excitedly.

Tora wasn’t sure what to say. He agreed that it was probably a good idea to check it out but he was concerned about the body they’d stumbled across. He wasn’t keen on the idea of walking up on a murderer. She was hungry and tired and scratched to shit though. He had his knife and his fists, they were lethal weapon enough he supposed but he felt naked and vulnerable. He couldn’t remember ever being so upset with himself for not carrying his glock. That was safely stashed under Poppy’s seat in his car, sitting in the god damn museum parking lot. He sighed, “okay, we’ll check it out but sweetheart I’m gonna need ya to do a few things okay?”

Poppy tilted her head in confusion, “what do I need to do?” she asked as the sun began to fade.

~ ~ ~

Poppy froze the moment Tora squeezed her wrist, his eyes glued on the speck of fire in the distance. He had told her she had to be completely silent earlier and stop any time he touched her. When he pointed at a tree with low hanging branches, she moved towards it, surprised when he lifted her up to the first branch. “Climb up three more and wait for me to come back. Don’t make a sound sweetheart okay?” He instructed in a whisper, looking up at her.

Her heart rate increased as he turned away from her, “wait Tora,” she whispered harshly, thrown off by his strange behaviour. He turned to look up at her, “why are you scared? Why are you leaving me?” 

He smiled up at her, reaching up to wrap his hand around her ankle, “hush Bobby, everything is fine, I ain’t scared, just precautious. We still don’t know where we are and the only other people we’ve met were very odd. If whoever this turns out to be is bad news, I’ll handle it. I just don’t want ya as a variable. Less for me to worry about. I’ll be back. I promise.” He reassured her quietly, his confident tone betraying none of his nervousness.

She nodded at him, “be safe, I love you,” she told him softly. He nodded at her and pointed at the next branch. She stood and climbed higher, keeping her eyes on him as he approached the fire in the distance.

Tora circled the small camp, keeping to the shadows. He might be more used to creeping around buildings but the idea was still the same. There was a horse tied to a tree branch and a sleeping roll unfolded beside the fire. The horse was carrying saddle bags. There was no sign of any other life. It was odd. He’d thought the first two with horses had been strange, a third though? He and Poppy hadn’t come across any marked trails like the ones Quincey would take his palfrey on when they were teens during the few summers he’d spent on the sprawling Balthuman estates in the mountains. If there was a stable or equestrian trails around here wouldn’t they have seen signs of it? He frowned as the fire glinted off the handle of the long sword strapped to the horse’s flank. Fuck. Did that mean this asshole was a LARPer too?

His head whipped away from the horse to the opposite side of the small clearing at the sound of twigs snapping under foot. A man emerged from the darkness, a bow and arrows slung over his shoulder, a dead rabbit dangling from one meaty fist. He frowned; this man was dressed like the others. He wasn’t so sure this was just a harmless game anymore though. Between the corpse and this guy he was starting to suspect something his brain wasn’t quite willing to accept just yet. He kept his eyes on the man and watched in interest as he slung his weapons to the side and pulled a small knife from his belt, beginning to skin the animal. The act gave him pause as he studied the man more carefully. He was burly, just shy of six foot. What little skin he could see was covered in scars; his nose was bulbous and looked like it’d been broken more than a few times and he had at least a few days growth on his chin. His most prominent feature though was an ugly scar that trailed from his temple over his cheek to the tip of his nose. He lowered his eyes to the man’s hands and was suddenly very glad he’d left Poppy behind. This would turn her stomach. He was fascinated though, he’d never seen someone do this to an animal, only a human being. He was surprised by how easy it looked and even more so by how well practiced the man appeared at it.

Staying to the shadows he moved closer, unsure how or if he should approach. The knife was most definitely real and he was going to operate under the assumption the arrows were as well. He reached down and pulled out his knife, closing his fist around it. Tora closed his eyes momentarily and exhaled slowly, centering himself and then he walked out of the trees and into the light of the fire.

~ ~ ~

Poppy kept her arm around the tree trunk, listening to the forest. It was eerie. She could hear all kinds of things moving around her. It was odd though, she couldn’t see any lights aside from the campfire in the distance. She’d been in the mountains before but she’d always seen the glow of a city or town or village in the distance, disrupting the night sky. She supposed it may just be due to the trees being so thick but she couldn’t shake the feeling Tora was wrong about the live action role playing. She supposed if someone had enough money they could make anything look real but the men they’d met today were still bouncing around in her tired brain. Everything about them was too perfect. Their clothing seams had been hand stitched, the leather was real and she was willing to bet their weapons had been too. Besides all that, who had the money aside from people like Quincey to just buy a horse for the sake of playing pretend? There was also the troubling fact that they hadn’t come across any signs of the modern age and despite walking for hours, they had yet to have any signal on either of their phones. She knew her imagination was rather vivid and she’d read a little more fantasy and si-fi than the average joe, but she believed in simple logic and her logic was telling her not only was she in the wrong place, she was in the wrong… _time_.

She startled when the flame in the distance suddenly went out. Her nails bit into the bark of the tree. _Tora is fine,_ she reprimanded her own panic. Tora was always okay. If there was anything she’d learned in the year and a half they’d been together it was that her man knew how to ‘handle’ himself. If the fire was out, it was because Tora wanted it to be.

She sighed and leaned heavily against the tree trunk, she hadn’t realized how much she’d been focused on the light. Now that she’d been plunged into darkness she could feel the tendrils of panic climbing her spin. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Tora was coming back for her; she just needed to be patient. They might be stranded but at least they weren’t alone. They had each other. Her breathing steadied and she focused on the sounds around her, listening for any sign of Tora.

~ ~ ~

Callan stared at the tall man that had just invaded his camp, his hand tightening on his knife. The man stared back at him, assessing him. The man was large but didn’t appear to carry a weapon. He was dressed oddly. When he took a step closer Callan could make out the peonies on his arm. Damn. He knew he shouldn’t have made a fire but he hadn’t expected the shadow guard to catch up with him this quickly. The messenger had only been dead half a day! How the hell had he found him? He eyed his stolen saddle bag, the missive was inside. He would have already been on the horse but the warrior had positioned himself in the way. Bloodly bampot. 

His eyes narrowed in anger. He wasn’t fucking this up. He was a dead man if he returned empty handed. Callan rose to his feet, his lip pulled back in a snarl. If the rumors were true, he wasn’t even a remote match for a warrior of the shadow guard but at the very least he had to try. It was either die here or die two days from now when Khan realized he’d failed. Again. Besides, he had an advantage, the man wasn’t armed.

The corners of Tora’s mouth tilted down minutely as the man rose to his feet, his grip on his knife changing. Fuck. This guy wanted to fight. He could tell based on his stance and the angry set of his eyes. Tora clenched his jaw; it’d been awhile since he was last in a knife fight and he wasn’t thrilled about the idea of putting another one under his belt. “We don’t need to do this,” he offered, fingering his switchblade, manipulating it slowly in his hand so that his finger rested gently on the button.

Callen sneered at him, “Like hell we don’t. Death to you and your king,” he spat before charging towards him. Tora inhaled and stepped forward, catching the man at the elbow with the side of his empty hand, deflecting the other man’s blade away from his body before using his own knife to slice through Callen’s tricep. Tora raised his empty hand to the man’s shoulder and shoved him forwards as he bent and sliced his knife through his inner thigh using the man’s own momentum to deepen the cut. Tora stepped back as he exhaled. Callen sat on the forest floor, the arm he still had control over was being put to use, his hand pressed firmly against his inner thigh as he bled out. He hadn’t even seen the knife until it was too late.

Tora stayed a few feet back from him and wiped his knife clean on the side of his pants before retracting the blade, shoving it into his pocket. “I told ya we didn’t need to do that,” he said regretfully.

“Save your pity, Asura will still fall, I swear it, there are others like me,” Callen threatened.

Tora frowned, the man was dying, he’d cut his femoral artery. He hadn’t meant to cut that deep but his aggression and his training had kicked in and he’d shoved harder than he’d meant to. He felt guilty. This man was most definitely a threat but he hadn’t meant to kill him. “I have no fuckin’ idea what you’re talking about.”

Callen sneered at him, “I’m supposed to believe a member of the shadow guard just stumbled upon me by chance? Go fuck a goat you Northern scum.”

Tora kicked Callen’s knife away from him and then dropped to his haunches in front of the man. “Cut the crap. You’re fuckin’ _dying_ do ya really not fuckin’ get that? I’m not part of your stupid game.” He raged, pissed the man was still putting on the farce.

Callen’s brows narrowed, a shadow warrior thought rebellion and war was a game? This man was much too old and too well trained to have never been in battle. Then again, life in a palace sounded cushy and the man had no visible scars from what he could see. His face was too perfect. Perhaps he’d never seen battle, only been on clandestine missions? In truth he didn’t know very much about the shadow guard. “War is no _game_. Look over the ridge at dawn and see for yourself,” he spat.

Tora pushed himself to his feet. The ridge huh? He and Poppy had seen it in the distance before the sun had set. Fuck it. Why wait? He studied the man; he was growing weaker and paler as the seconds ticked by. He’d be dead in the next five minutes. He wasn’t capable of putting pressure on his leg anymore to slow the bleeding. He wasn’t a threat. He turned away from the man and wandered over to the bedroll. He packed it up and moved to the horse, untying the reins from the tree. He thought about taking the bow and arrows but they were useless to him. It wasn’t like he or Poppy knew how to use them. The man was spitting expletives at him but Tora ignored him. He was tired and debating what to do about the guy. He eyed the fire and the dead rabbit beside it. He and Poppy were in the middle of the woods. There was no one around for miles. He eyed the fire. Should he attempt to burn the body? Bury him? Fuck it. What was one more corpse? The murderer had left the last body lying around…maybe the cops would just assume he/she was a serial killer? Yeah, that worked for him. Maybe if he were lucky, animals would get to him before the cops did. Yup, that’s what he was gonna hope for. He wasn’t normally this sloppy but Poppy was literally up a tree waiting for him. He didn’t have time to dig a grave or dismember a body and no tools with which to do so. He kicked dirt over the fire, putting it out before he wandered back into the woods, pulling the horse along behind him.

~ ~ ~

Poppy startled when she finally heard Tora’s voice calling for her from the darkness below her feet. “Come down sweetheart,” he called. She scrambled down the branches, pushing herself off the lowest one and into his extended arms. “Y’okay?” he asked as she clung to him, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, her head buried in his shoulder.

“Mmhmm,” she sighed, “I was just worried about you for a min-” she stopped abruptly, noticing the horse behind him as she lifted her head. “Tora…where the hell…” she whispered.

He squeezed her and set her down on her feet, “thought this might be better for ya than walking in the bush.” He explained weakly.

Poppy walked over to the beast, gently stroking its nose, “hello, aren’t you beautiful,” she cooed. “What happened to her owner?” She asked as she felt his hands circle her waist and move her to the side of horse.

Tora shrugged, “he came at me with a knife. I didn’t have a choice,” he explained as he lifted her so she could shove her foot in the stirrup and swing her other leg over. Poppy frowned as she took her seat in the saddle. Her feet hung limply, unable to reach the stirrups now. She held onto the horn with both hands in order to keep her balance.

“I’m sorry Tora. Do you want to talk about it?” she offered as he took hold of the reins and began leading her mount forward. He had started opening up to her shortly after their anniversary about the violence he doled out. He would never tell her specifically about his actions, just about his feelings towards them. Being able to discuss them with her seemed to help him sleep though.

Tora shrugged as he continued to move forward cautiously. His eyes had adjusted to the dark fairly well but he still couldn’t see more than three feet in front of him at any given time. “Naw, I’m okay sweetheart. Just feeling a little guilty, he wasn’t a very skilled fighter.” _He didn’t even try to block_ , he added internally, “I probably didn’t need to use as much force as I did.” He murmured.

Poppy nodded, she knew what that meant. Tora wouldn’t have stolen his horse if he’d just knocked the guy out. She sighed. “I forgive you Tora.”

He smiled sadly to himself. There she went again, trying to absolve his sins, reminding him of her unconditional love. He was a lucky man. He leaned forward as the ground began to rise under his feet. Good. They’d hit the ridge. His brows narrowed as he noticed the light visible at the top of the incline. Had they finally found civilization? He picked up his pace, only stumbling once on a raised root before he reached the crest. What he saw below unhinged his jaw. He heard Poppy gasp behind him as his eyes scanned the scene below him, lit by the light of dozens of torches.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! Let me know what you think :) The plot will start moving in the next few chapters, just had to flesh out some background, establish the political climate and lay my easter eggs first. I'm working on another request and the next chapter of Missing Pieces I'm hoping to have one or the other up sometime this weekend. 
> 
> Songs:  
> In the Woods Somewhere by Hozier (Tora & Poppy)  
> Candle (Sick & Tired) by White Tie Affair (Ulaan)

“Tora…” Poppy whined pleadingly, her hand hovering over her mouth as she gazed at the carnage below them. The death groan of an unlucky soldier floated up to her ears as he was impaled by a pike. Canvas tents littered the ground, bodies occupying the space between them. It had been a slaughter. 

Tora shook his head, shaking off the shock of the scene below him. He turned to Poppy his hand circling her calf. “Shhh sweetheart, close your eyes. Look away Poppy. It’s okay. Don’t cry, you’re safe. I’m right here.” He said in an attempt to comfort her.

Poppy nodded and bit her lip, sliding her eyes closed. She opened them a moment later when she felt herself pitching forwards in the saddle. Tora was leading her back down the ridge. “Tora? Where are we going?” she whispered.

He shuddered, the muscles in his shoulders twitching. He wanted to tell her ‘home’. Back to their apartment. Back to their bed. Back to an environment he knew and could control. Right now though, he wasn’t sure how to do that. He felt insane. There was no way this was happening. There was no way this was his reality right now. He had to be dreaming. “Tora, that wasn’t a _game_! Those weren’t reenactors or LAMPERS or whatever you called them!” she shrieked, her voice growing more hysterical with each word.

He turned to face her as they came to the bottom of the incline. He reached up for her without a word and pulled her from the saddle and into his arms. She was crying, he could feel the dampness on his neck as she buried her face there and her body shook with every ragged inhale. “I think…fuck I can’t believe I’m saying this…I think we travelled more than distance sweetheart,” he bit out, his voice trembling.

Poppy shuddered in his arms, “but that’s insane right? It’s not possible,” she begged, willing him to tell her she was crazy and he wasn’t actually sharing her thoughts.

Tora frowned, “like I said when we first turned up here sweetheart, I have no fucking clue what’s happening right now. All I know is what we just saw was most definitely real.”

She tightened her grip on him, “w-what do we d-do?” she stuttered against the skin of his neck.

Tora shifted her weight to one arm as he reached up and grabbed the bedroll off the horse. “We’ll worry about tackling that issue in the morning. For now, we’re going to sleep.” He told her firmly. He had nothing left today. He’d seen more dead bodied in the last few hours than he had in his entire life. This was overwhelming, even for him. He could only imagine how she was feeling. He tossed the roll onto the ground and rubbed circles over her back with his palm. “I’m gonna put ya down now love. Do ya think ya can stand?” He asked, his own legs feeling weak beneath him.

She nodded, her head brushing against his shoulder as he lowered her to her feet. He stepped away from her, securing the horse to a tree by the reins. Then he lowered himself to his knees, spreading out the bedroll before climbing onto it. He reached a hand out to her. She pulled her purse off her shoulder and hooked it over the sword strapped to the horse before taking his hand. She let him pull her close before he tugged the sleeping roll around them, cocooning them in the wool blanket and canvas tarp beneath them. “Tora, this thing stinks,” she commented disgustedly, her anxiety still present in the wobble of her voice.

He sighed into her hair, she was being kind. The blanket _reeked_. He buried his nose deeper in her hair to try to rid his nostrils of the pungent sent. “I know, I’m sorry, go to sleep Poppy. Close your eyes.”

~ ~ ~

Ulaan, the Barbarian king of the north, groaned and pushed his map away from him and up his desk, he was sick and tired of this conversation and wished to be abed with his wife. “General, I think-” was all he got out of his mouth before his general and trusted friend cut him off.

“Your majesty please, this cannot wait, we’re not finished.” He reprimanded.

Ulaan nodded, _of course_ , of course his General was right but it was _late_ and he could just picture his sweet little doll wrapped up in the furs that blanketed their bed. Her face soft with sleep and her hair spread out around her. She’d be warm when he pulled her against him, back to chest. If he was lucky he might even feel their child moving around in her belly when he splayed his palm over her beautifully rounded torso. He sighed, all he _wanted_ to do was crawl into bed with his wife but alas, duty weighed heavily on his shoulders. “Fine Kota, have it your way,” he relented, pulling the map closer to him. He studied it carefully before picking up a marble piece to the left of the map, tossing it up into the air gently before catching it in his fist, only to send it flying again a moment later. He did it repeatedly as he thought.

It was no secret what had prompted his invasion on the West of Narin. Draught and famine were plaguing his people, like his father before him; he was doing what was in the best interest of his population. The North was a beautiful place to live, the mountainous terrain and the crystal clear lakes held many precious memories for him. However, the winters were harsh and the last few years had born scorching summers resulting in unyielding harvests. His people were starving; and this he could not abide. Conquering the west had been easy enough; the people of that region were not of the same breed as his. His people were _strong_ , in body and in spirit, shaped and molded by the harsh and unforgiving environment they thrived in. The westerners had their own merits but they were weak militarily. Taking Olzii _the first time_ had been child’s play. After centuries of fighting with other Northern kingdoms, fighting the westerners had been all too easy. His grandfather had united all the northern fiefdoms under his banner. As a result the force he had at his disposal was tremendous. They had overwhelmed the west and colonized Olzii and the people he had placed there were thriving.

He wasn’t finished though; his true goal was the East. The _bread basket_ of Narin. All that rich soil had been barred away from his people by the mountain range that surrounded it. He was going to take it and nothing was going to stand in his way. If he could control the land that sat south of the tri kingdoms and to the east of Shan his people would never go hungry again. The trick was doing it without decimating the people that were already there. He sighed and rubbed his temple with his free hand as the marble piece continued to bounce in his palm.

He wasn’t a hard man by nature, being intimidating and ruthless was part of being a king, a leader among men who were harsh by birth. Playing into his persona was his duty and advantageous at times. After he had crushed Olzii, XX had just rolled over, offering his people a home in exchange for a peaceful take over. He smirked, remembering the man that had called himself ‘the king of XX’. Chen had trembled when he’d met with ‘The Great Barbarian King Asura’ and signed the peace treaty, handing over all control to him. He frowned, Chen was wise, he was smart enough to know when defeat was inevitable and had done what he had to in order to protect his people from slaughter, including humbling himself. He may be meek but Ulaan respected him.

The ‘king’ of Qian Li though, he had been another matter entirely. He’d had to behead the whole lot of that royal family after they'd attacked Olzii and defeated him in battle. He’d only spared Yujen with the hope that it might win him favour with Yuwa. Well, that and the woman had been such a pain in the ass to his troops it amused him greatly to send her back to her father so she could prattle and whine in his ear. He grinned widely, after all, he’d taken one of the man’s daughters already, he might as well give one back in exchange. His humour fled him a moment later as guilt overtook him. The Qian Li people hadn’t deserved what their King had put them through. He’d slaughtered thousands of them and knew he wasn’t looked upon favourably by the few that remained. He’d been squashing their rebellions for months. He sympathized; he would do no differently in their shoes. Especially after how cruel he’d had to be, they were a spiteful people and couldn’t accept that their seat of power was gone. He leaned forward and placed the wolf head in his hand over the circle that represented what had once been the most powerful kingdom on the other side of the mountain range. He controlled it, now all he had to do was keep it.

He picked up another marble wolf head and placed it over Shan. Taking _her_ kingdom had been interesting. He sighed, _the things he did for his Queen_. Being without her for months had been tragic and inhospitable. He'd burned for her incessantly during their time apart and had vowed to do everything in his power to ensure she would still want him when all was said and done. _Losing her_ had been an outcome he'd refused to entertain. As a result, he’d invaded Shan with Yuwa at the forefront of his mind, doing everything in his power to keep the slaughter minimal until he had convinced her father through correspondence that surrender and compliance was in his best interest. He’d even offered to help the old man financially in exchange for Yuwa. He smiled, _diplomacy at its finest_. He liked when he could solve problems with his words and not have to resort to his powerful fist of an army. In order to save the old king his pride he’d offered him the same arrangement as he had Chen. He could continue to rule when ‘Asura’ wasn’t around as long as they both understood who was really in charge and Northerners were all placed in positions of power in his court. 

Ulaan frowned, well; all had been replaced with the exemption of the King’s Grand Advisor. He had been permitted to stay under threat of incurring Yuwa’s wrath. The woman had a soft spot for the man as he had been her tutor from a young age and although Ulaan didn’t like it, and it went against every military and leadership instinct in his body, he had given into his little wife. She had proved rather persuasive as she rode him, refusing to allow him release until he’d agree to let her tutor stay in the castle with position intact. He sighed; he hadn’t liked the way the man had looked at him, with angry and deep disgust in his eyes. Ulaan pinched the bridge of his nose. Well, then again could he really blame the man? He’d deflowered his favourite pupil, slaughtered a good chunk of his army, dethroned his king all but physically, made his kingdom financially dependent and indebted to him and then replaced all his friends with Northerners. He chuckled to himself, he’d hate him too if he were in Qiang’s shoes. _Especially_ for the deflowering. It was a good thing Yuwa hadn’t begun to show until after they were married, her belly was much too round for anyone not to realize he’d laid his seed long before their wedding vows had been exchanged.

Kota was endlessly amused by this fact; the people of Shan though, were _not_ and whispers of the Barbarian King forcing himself on the princess during her captivity in order to force her into marriage were running rampant throughout the kingdom. He sighed; such was his life, forever painted the bad guy. If only people knew it was his fierce little wife that had jumped _him_ DEMANDING he be the first and preferably _only_ to make his way inside her. Ha! Then what would people say about him? Goodbye ‘Asura the great, the feared, the ruthless’, hello ‘Ulaan the sentimental, brought to his knees by a slip of a woman’. He’d have to slaughter a hundred men single handed to get his reputation back if that ever got out. He frowned; he knew the rumours bothered his Queen though, especially when handmaids outside her inner circle would look upon her with pity and whisper words of sorrow for her. He had forbid her from setting any of them straight though. It was enough that he and she knew what had really happened in that tent that night and that was all that mattered.

He changed lines of thought, returning to the map once again. He was one sorry sap wasn’t he? Here he was thinking about his wife’s feelings when he was supposed to be focused on conquering all of Narin. Fuck. _Concentrate_ _you big baby_ , he reprimanded himself. He picked up another marble wolf head and began tossing it, much like the first as he studied his General. Kota was deep in thought, sitting to his left, a hand under his jaw the other planted on the table his finger tapping. “Speak Kota, tell me what’s on your mind,” he beseeched.

Kota frowned and then turned his heavily scarred face to his king, “The tri Kingdoms sent another gift today along with an imperial document, signed by all three kings requesting ongoing correspondence until an agreement can be made.” He commented dryly, “I was just thinking about how easy it would be to just _crush them_. We’d control all the land in the North east in a matter of weeks.”

Ulaan frowned and leaned back heavily in his chair, “and risk inciting more rebellion? No Kota, dealing with what’s left of the Qian Li is trouble enough, we must be diplomatic. We are strong and numerous but we mustn’t spread ourselves too thin. All it takes is one weak link in a chain and our precarious hold will snap. If we can solve this without force it would be preferable. I also don’t relish the idea of going to war when my child is so close to arrival. I wish to be present for the birth, not out campaigning.” He muttered.

Kota rolled his eyes at the nature of his sentimental friend. He had not been present for four of his six children’s births. It wasn’t a big deal; he preferred it that way if anything. When they first arrived they were kind of gross looking, covered in white wax. He much preferred to see them the next day or even weeks later, when they were soft and clean and his wife had recovered enough that she wasn’t screaming obscenities at him. Yes, war campaigning was welcome news to him when he knew a babe was imminent. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be your majesty and with all due respect the Queen possesses a temper, perhaps one even more fierce than my own wife. She will say horrid things about you while birthing the prince or princess, whether you are present or not. I am sure of it. If I were in your shoes I would be looking for an excuse not to subject myself to it. The last birth I attended my wife broke one of my fingers and told me if I ever touched her again she would skin me alive. Would cut off my stones just to make sure I could never cause her the pain of bringing life into this world again.” He warned ominously.

Ulaan laughed aloud at that, “oh but I would not miss it for the world Kota. I will gladly sacrifice any number of fingers my Yuwa would lay waste to if it pleased her. Her fury and tongue lashing will be music in my ears until the cry of my child replaces it. I will be present. Childbirth is dangerous and I will be there to hold her hand through all of it.”

Kota arched a brow, “sir, it is tradition for only women to be present in the royal birthing room in both your cultures,” he pointed out.

Ulaan scowled at him, “fuck tradition. Mark my words Kota. I will be present and touching my wife when my child finally comes into this world. Nothing will stand in the way of that.” He growled.

Kota’s brows rose high on his forehead at the venom in Ulaan’s voice. “I pity the nursemaid that attempts to stop you,” he muttered under his breath, which caused Ulaan to howl with laughter.

“Aye, the woman won’t stand a chance,” he chuckled.

Kota nodded, “so, shall I send a missive back to the tri Kingdoms?” he asked, his voice laced with exhaustion. 

Ulaan nodded, “offer them the same deal I gave XX. They will be allowed to continue to rule as figure heads and their people will be unharmed but their court has to go. I also want twenty thousand more civilians brought through the northern mountain pass. We will spread them throughout Shan and what’s left of Qian Li. The presence of a Northern civilian populace will free up our army so we can push east with a show of force if it comes to that.” He instructed.

Kota nodded, “and the Asuran warriors of the shadow guard?” he prompted.

Ulaan frowned, his most elite warriors were currently scattered throughout his vast territory. He’d given a company to each of them. They were his most trusted men. Three of which he had grown up alongside, the other two had been his father’s men and were like uncles to him. Only _they_ were permitted to wear his symbol. “Call them home. I want them by my side if engagement with the tri kingdoms is necessary. Aside from you, those five are the only ones I’d trust to handle the army in my stead.” He ordered.

Kota nodded again as Ulaan pushed his chair back and rose to his feet, “we should probably discuss strategy should diplomacy fail.” Kota chided.

Ulaan waved him off, “when my brothers in arms arrive Kota, not tonight. We have had enough talk of war this eve. Go make love to your wife. I’m sure her company is more favourable than mine.” He tossed over his shoulder as he left the room intent on begging his own wife for some attention.

Kota frowned as he watched his King meander down the corridor before disappearing around the corner. He would write and send the missives. Then he would go to bed. Maybe if he was lucky his wife would allow him to touch her in the morning. He rolled his eyes, after fifteen years of marriage, he knew better than to wake her in the middle of the night though, especially for _that_.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! Let me know what you think! ♥
> 
> Song:  
> Beat the Devil's Tattoo by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Poppy woke to the sound of Tora emptying the saddle bags on the forest floor. She rolled over onto her side so she could watch. She sighed, it never cessed to amaze her how such a large man could move so silently, or so quickly. Then there was her, she might be small but her Granny liked to tease that she moved like an elephant, announcing her presence wherever she went. She smiled to herself, thinking that trait was actually a good thing when it came to being with a man like Tora. She’d only surprised him _once_ their entire relationship and she hadn’t even meant to do it. She’d tried to brush some hair out of his face while he was sleeping over at her place. The panicked look in his eyes and painful grip he’d had on her wrist a fraction of a second after she’d done it had been warning enough that she never touched him when he was unguarded again. “Anything useful?” she asked as her mind returned to their predicament. After what they’d seen last night they both understood what they were facing, no matter how outlandish it might be.

Tora frowned and tossed her the canteen made of leather hide he’d found, it had water in it. Her voice was hoarse from going so long without and he watched as she drank deeply from it. He imagined she was hungry as well. There was some kind of jerky in a pouch but he didn’t know what kind of animal it was. Tasted like crap but it was better than nothing. “There’s dried meat but I’m warning ya it’s gross.” He said as he passed the bag to her in exchange for the water. He chuckled at her disgusted face as she ripped a piece of it off with her teeth. “I tried to tell ya,” he teased. Poppy rolled her eyes but continued to chew. She was starving; they hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast yesterday. They’d intended to grab lunch after visiting the museum. 

Poppy’s eyes widened, _the museum_! The hair pin! She stood and rushed over to her purse, digging around in it for the jade pin. She squeaked in relief as her hand closed over it. “Tora, put this back in my hair, like you did at the museum!” She ordered, holding it out to him. He stood and took it from her, pulling her into his arms. He knew what she was thinking. A small smile spread across his lips at the notion of being returned to their time and space. Keeping one arm around her, he tucked the jade hair pin over her ear before tightening his hold on her in response to the expected sensation of discombobulation. Much too both their disappointment, it didn’t come. Tora sighed dejectedly as Poppy ripped it from her hair and pressed it back into his palm. “Again Tora! Don’t give up! Just try again!” Poppy demanded. Tora arched a brow at her doubtfully but did as she requested.

After four more failed attempts, Poppy reluctantly accepted that any magic the hair pin might have once held had now deserted it. She sighed and returned it to her purse as Tora crouched back over the contents of the saddle bag wordlessly.

He frowned as he looked over the remainder of the items. The knives were useful, so was the pouch full of gold coins. There were two other canteens, one filled with water, the other with a swill he’d choked on and wasn’t keen on tasting again. The only other thing in the bag was a sealed letter. He arched a brow as his girlfriend’s little hand reached out and pilfered it from under his gaze. “Didn’t anyone ever tell ya it’s a felony to open other people’s mail?” he asked dryly as Poppy ran her nail under the seal and popped it open.

She reflected his expression, “I don’t imagine it is in this time, I doubt national laws even exist,” she lectured as she unfolded the letter, her eyes skimming over the first line. She sighed; well they were far enough back that obviously phonetic spelling was still in effect, what a pain. Her brows pinched together as she deciphered what she was reading, “Enemy ambush east of White Lake. Northern mountain pass to Qian Li no longer under our control. Halt all civilian movement. Send reinforcements. I will hold here as long as I can. Kyong.”

Poppy peeked up over the edge of the letter to stare at Tora who was blinking at her in confusion. “Tora, I think you killed a very important messenger…”

He bristled, “what the fuck do ya want me to do about it sweetheart? Bringing people back from the dead isn’t exactly a part of my fuckin’ skill set.” He snapped sarcastically.

She sighed, he was scared. He was always nasty to her when he was stressed or uncomfortable. He was probably feeling especially guilty now that he knew he’d killed someone important too. Other people might die now because of this. Hopefully this ‘Kyong’ had sent more than one messenger. “Listen baby I’m sorry, I didn’t say it to upset you, I was just voicing an observation. Please don’t be mad at me for being insensitive to what you went through last night.”

Tora closed his eyes and exhaled slowly through his nose, he shouldn’t have snapped at her, it may have been a year and a half but it was something he was still working on. “No, I’m sorry sweetheart, I’m sure you’re just as messed up about this as I am. I honestly don’t know what the fuck to do about that letter though, if anything. Personally, I think you and I should burn it and focus on finding a way to get the fuck home. I’m not about this wood life at all. I’m used to sleeping on the ground but I’m already missing air conditioning. This heat sucks.” He apologized, quickly changing the subject.

Poppy ignored him, having already forgiven him the moment he’d snapped at her. She glanced at Tora’s arm then down at the letter and then at Tora again, then down at the seal on the letter, then the lip of the ridge, an idea forming. “Fuck no woman, to whatever the fuck you’re thinking. The answer is _fuck no_.” Tora muttered, annoyance seeping into his tone. He could tell from the gleam in her eye her little hamster wheel was spinning. Whenever she got that look on her face it always spelled trouble for him.

She smirked at him, “oh come on Tora, you haven’t even let me tell you what I’m thinking yet.” She argued.

He frowned at her, “I don’t need ya to, I know what that look means and I’m not down. The last time ya looked at me like that I spent an afternoon running around the city like a chicken with my head cut off.”

Poppy laughed, “true but it was worth it wasn’t it?”

He rolled his eyes, Quincey had been so surprised by ‘their’ thoughtfulness the man had cried. Well, bawled his fuckin’ eyes out like a pus- _baby_ , he corrected himself, knowing how Poppy felt about the way he used that word. “Yes but-”

“And the time before that we had a great weekend didn’t we?” she reminded him, hinting at the Halloween weekend they’d spent together. They’d taken kids from ‘the big brothers & big sisters program’ trick or treating and to a showing of a Disney Halloween special in one of the city parks. She’d said it was for the sake of giving back to the community and doing nice things for others in order to make up for his bad deeds. She’d argued that he should have just as many actions to feel happy and proud of in his life as he did things he was ashamed of and regretted. In truth though, he suspected the woman had just wanted him to go trick or treating at least once in his life as he’d missed out on most ‘normal’ kid things growing up. He smirked at her. “See, my ideas are usually good. So hear me out?”

Tora sighed and crossed his legs, resting his cheek on his fist, his elbow leaning on his knee, “fine Bobby, lay it on me. I reserve the right to say no though,” he challenged.

She frowned at him; Tora didn’t normally say no to her, it was extremely rare he didn’t give her what she wanted, well, unless it had something to do with her safety. “Well I was thinking about those guys we met yesterday,” he dipped his chin, indicating he was listening, “and they seemed to think you were a soldier,” he nodded again; “they seemed intimidated by you despite the fact you didn’t have weapons like they did. They seemed to respect you, the one that did most of the talking even seemed a little afraid of you Tora.” He raised both his brows as if to say ‘and your point is?’, it wasn’t like that was outside the norm for him, “I think it was because of your tattoos Tora.” He blinked at her, unimpressed by her logic. Of course his tattoos intimidated people. Once again, this was not something new. “I read at the museum that tattoos meant more in the past, that they represented strength and denoted rank. That they were earned through prowess in battle. I don’t think those guys messed with us because you’re covered in so many. Especially your peony sleeve. The peony is the symbol of Asura.”

That made Tora sit up straight, the man last night had mention someone named ‘Asura’, had said he would fall. Which he assumed meant he wanted to kill the guy. Maybe his clever little girlfriend was on to something here. “Kay, who’s he?”

Poppy deflated under his gaze, “seriously Tora? Did you read _any_ of the information at the museum at all?” she chided.

He had the decency to blush slightly, “not really no. Just kinda looked at all the shit. Read a little on the weapons but that was about it.”

She shook her head in disbelief, “come on Tora, even if you really didn’t pay attention in the museum you must have studied some history in elementary and high school.”

Tora shook his head, “naw sweetheart, in primary school I spent my days worryin’ about what Vince was gonna do to me when I got home. Didn’t really leave me available for learning and I cut a lot of class in high school.” He explained with a shrug.

Poppy’s face twisted in pain for him, he’d told her about his upbringing but she’d never thought about it in the context of school before. Her heart was breaking for him all over again. She felt awful for lecturing him just now, she’d taken for granted how easy it was to pay attention in class when your stomach was full and you weren’t worried about being beaten or tortured. “Well, Asura is a national hero and a very controversial historical figure. During his time, he united all the fiefdoms spread across Narin under one banner. He was known for being ruthless and deadly and his family line went on to rule Narin for hundreds of years before our last king abdicated the throne, turning over his power to the people, establishing a democratic government in the mid-1800s.”

Tora smirked at her, thoroughly impressed, she was so damn smart. He was always amazed she still had room in that beautiful head of hers. She seemed to remember everything about everyone. Not to mention everything she read. “Okay so you think we’re in his time?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know, the spelling on this,” she said, waving the letter at him, “would seem to indicate we’re around there. The seal though is what’s really important to me. The outline of a peony is stamped into the wax. I think it’s Asura’s troops that are in trouble and your tattoos would indicate to those around us that you’re part of his army, and probably someone very important to boot considering how many of them you have.” She explained, a wide grin on her face.

Tora didn’t understand what she was so happy about, none of that sounded like a good thing to him. If anything it meant he’d stick out like a sore thumb. He had his own battleground to get back to; he didn’t have time to get sucked into someone else’s war. “Bobby, I don’t see how any of this helps us.”

She folded the letter and set it on her lap, “if we’re here for a while, which I sincerely hope we’re not, we can’t draw any more attention dressed the way we are. Did you see the way those guys looked at us yesterday? I need to find something that goes to my toes and you should probably dress the part of a warrior since your arm already signals you as one. Hopefully the intimidation will work and no one will mess with us while we figure out how to get home?”

He looked at her from beneath his lashes, what she said made sense but she’d forgotten about one very important detail. “Uh huh, and just who the fuck do ya think is gonna come along and hand me over armour? Especially armour big enough to fit me? Those guys were small yesterday Bobby and I’m not too keen on killing anyone else while we’re here.” He pointed out. She glanced at the top of the ridge behind him. He followed her gaze and blanched. “No Poppylan, fuck that noise. I ain’t scavenging a battlefield. Not happening.”

~ ~ ~

Tora’s lip peeled back in disgust as he descended the opposite side of the ridge. He couldn’t believe she’d actually talked him into this. Her argument that he touched dead bodies all the time did not lend to him being any more comfortable with what he was about to do. Bunch a bullshit was what this was. He used the canvas tents around him to shield him from view as he crept around the decimated army camp. Dead bodies were littered everywhere. His stomach rolled violently. He was used to violence, hell he had seen some really fucked up shit in his life. This though, this was on another level entirely and the smell, holy shit the fuckin’ _smell_. He knew from personal experience bodies defecated after death but – he gagged, okay, new train of thought was needed before he retched. He eyed the bodies as he stepped over them; none of them were big enough so far. He kept a careful watchful eye out for others as he moved. Whoever had ambushed them seemed to have moved on but he wasn’t letting down his guard or taking any chances.

He glanced up at the top of the ridge, he needed to make this quick and get back to Poppy. He didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone and unprotected. He returned his attention to the task at hand and moved a little further into the camp when his eyes settled on a man lying face down. He looked about the right size. Leaning down he grabbed the man’s shoulder and rolled him over. Fuck. No good, the guy had been run through his side and he was only wearing a breast plate. He wasn’t interested in wearing something covered in blood. Tora stood and moved away. He let his eyes scan the tops of the tents; one of them was bigger than the others, a flag with a peony in the center of it fluttered in the wind on one side of it. He wandered towards it, listening for any signs of life. He frowned when he reached it, there were four bodies piled up in front of the drawn flaps. Well, fuck that then. He wasn’t hauling bodies.

Tora turned his attention to the open tent closest to him and peered inside. He folded up the blanket on the ground. It didn’t smell good, but it was infinitely better than the one he’d shared with Poppy last night. The letter had said there was a lake around here, if they were lucky maybe they’d stubble upon it and they’d be able to wash the blankets. He sighed, seeing nothing else of value before exiting. He glanced at the larger tent again and clenched his jaw, trying to decide what to do. He’d been pulling B&Es since he was a kid; he knew where the good shit was probably being kept. The last tent had looked pretty picked over though, he doubted there’d be anything of value left but he supposed it didn’t hurt to look.

He approached the side and set his blanket down, reaching into his boot he flicked open his switchblade and sliced down the side of the tent, making himself an entrance. The noise it made was louder than he would have liked. He frowned as he looked at the slit. His instincts prickling along his neck, he couldn’t see inside and he had learned the hard way as a kid to never walk into a room unless ya knew what was inside. He looked to the left of him and then the right. Still no sign of anyone. His eyes narrowed on the slit as he listened intently. He didn’t hear anything. He pressed his lips together. His instincts were still screaming at him. He took a few steps away from the tent and grabbed a body that looked like it’d been trampled by a horse. He hauled it up and moved back to the slit before tossing it through. Tora’s eyes widened as a sword impaled the body through the back, its feet holding his cut open wide enough for him to see in. He only had a second to register what was happening before the sword came thrusting out through the slit for him. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to update. I promise they'll be more frequent from now on. I'm hoping to put up a Request this weekend as well. Enjoy and as always, let me know what you think! Happy Chapter Day! ♥ 
> 
> Song:  
> Not Dead Yet by Fame on Fire (Kyong)

Tora jumped back just in time to avoid the tip of the blade as the man attached to the handle stepped out of the tent in order to take another swing at him. Tora’s eyes rounded in surprise and he immediately began thinking about how to disarm the man without getting hit by his sword. His knife was in his hand but it wouldn’t do him any good if he couldn’t get in close with this motherfucker and the length of his opponent’s blade was going to keep him too far away to do any real damage unless he threw his knife, and if he _missed_ he’d be completely fucked. Tora’s eyes practically popped out of his head though when the other man’s widened in surprise and then relief as he lowered his sword slowly. This gave Tora a moment to study the man without being focused on his blade. He was tall, almost as tall as he was, and built heavier. Based on the grey peppering his hair and the wrinkles etched into his face Tora guess he was roughly twenty years his senior. He had a large peony on the back of his hand and one peeking out from his shoulder just beneath his neckline. Tora was willing to bet if he rolled the man’s shirt sleeve they’d go the length of his arm. “Brother? Thank the gods,” the man murmured before he collapsed.

Tora stood there for a moment in utter confusion, trying to process what had just happened. He snapped his knife shut and shoved it into his pocket before placing his hands on his hips, glaring down at the man that had attacked him. He wasn’t dead, just passed out. He wasn’t wearing armour, just a tunic and the back of that was soaked with blood. He should walk away. Just take the blanket and forget Poppy’s harebrained idea. He didn’t have time for this shit; he needed to get back to her and _they_ needed to get the fuck back where they belonged. He picked up the blanket and took five steps away from the man when he heard him groan. Tora closed his eyes and tilted his face to the sky. The universe was fucking with him. If he hadn’t thought whoever was pulling the strings upstairs hated him before, he certainly did now. He reached up and scratched his forehead with the back of his thumb. Fuck he needed a cigarette. He only had four left though. He wasn’t about to waste them. He stood there undecided for a moment before he dropped the blanket and turned back to the man, “Fair warning motherfucker, ya come at me again and I’ll fuck ya right up, ya hear me?” Tora warned before hauling the man up and through the makeshift doorway he’d cut.

~ ~ ~

Yuwa tangled her fingers in her husband’s hair, plaiting it for him as he sat on the edge of their bed. She secured the end of the long braid with a leather tie before placing her hands gently on his shoulders, feeling the tension beneath them. She frowned; he had been very late coming to bed last night. “My love, what ails you?” she asked softly, leaning forward to press a kiss to the side of his neck.

Ulaan smiled and turned to face his kneeling Queen. She looked lovely this morning, not as good as she did without her robe, but still lovely. He glanced down at her belly and his grin widened. “Nothing the sight of you can’t fix little doll.” He teased, reaching for her, trapping her face in his big hands so he could kiss her.

She pulled his hands away, crawling closer to him, hanging onto his arm as she maneuvered her legs out from under her and down the side of the bed so they could sit side by side. Not an easy feat at seven months pregnant. “Talk to me Ulaan. What’s wrong?” she pressed.

He wrapped his arm around her, leaning his head down so his cheek rested on the top of her head. She smelled wonderful; he’d been disappointed to see she’d bathed without him when he’d entered their chamber the previous night. “I’m still mulling over how to handle the tri Kingdoms. We need to press East and Kota seems to think force is necessary. He believes and maintains, as he has for months, that Wei, Shu and Wu are just trying to buy time. As for what, I can’t imagine. I’m starting to agree with him though. Autumn will be upon us soon enough and I want our people out of the North before winter hits. I need that land and I’m quickly approaching my limit of asking nicely for it.” He explained.

Yuwa nodded, pushing away from him so she could look up at her large husband, “You think they’re planning something untoward?” she guessed.

Ulaan shrugged, “I sincerely hope not. It would be very foolish on their part. They did have close ties with Qian Li though and I haven’t led my people successfully since I was a boy by overlooking anything. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt but I’m not happy with the speed of our negotiations.” He smirked, “perhaps I should let you take over my correspondence. I’m sure you’d have them eating from your palm within the week,” he joked.

She arched a delicate brow at him, “Perhaps I should.”

His grin widened, “as you wish little doll, I’ll inform my war council to consult with you instead the next time they wish to drag me into endless discussion.” He teased, “I shall send a message to the Tri Kingdoms at once and let them know I have been dethroned, that fearsome ‘Yuwa the tiny’ is now in charge.” He teased.

Yuwa smirked at him, “careful, don’t make me break a bow over your shoulder again. Height isn’t everything you know.” She reminded him playfully.

Ulaan chuckled, “see, married to a barbarian demon king and not the least bit intimidated. You are my greatest treasure your highness. I will remember to never act in a way that would require a bow to correct.” He joked, patting her thigh as he stood, his long braid bouncing off the back of his knees.

She watched as he headed for the door, “I love you Ulaan, try not to worry so much today. We still have many months before winter.”

He paused at the door and glanced back at her in amusement, “No matter how happy I am with my personal life the weight of my duty will always be on my shoulders Yuwa. You and I are not free. However, I am grateful you have shown such a desire to help carry the weight of our chains. What kind of king would I be if I didn’t worry about my people? Certainly not one that would be worthy of having you call husband. No my love, I will worry until all of the people under my rule have food in their belly.” He smiled warmly at her and cut her off before she could reply, “I love you very much my Queen I look forward to sharing the evening meal with you.” He finished before ducking out of the room.

Yuwa frowned as she gazed at the empty doorway, she had been about to tell him he would be worthy of being called husband even if he was nothing more than a poor fisherman. She loved him because of the man he was, not because of his damn title.

~ ~ ~

Tora slung the man in his arms onto the large cot in the middle of the tent and glanced around. It was surprisingly intact. He imagined the man and the bodies piled up outside had more than a little to do with that. He slapped the older man’s cheek lightly, attempting to revive him. “Oi, wake the fuck up!” he demanded. Tora breathed a small sigh of relief when the man’s eyelids fluttered open, his eyes glazed with pain. Thank god, Tora thought to himself, he had no desire to be the only living person around again.

“They ambushed us,” the old man wheezed.

Tora cocked a brow, “who?”

“Qian Li rebels and Wu warriors.” He took a rasping breath, “They’re in league,” he said, taking unsteady rapid breaths, “you must ride back to Ulaan,” he wheezed, “tell him the Tri Kingdoms are funding the rebellions,” he spat with all the venom he could muster in his weakened state before dissolving into a coughing fit.

Tora frowned; he suspected the man might have a collapsed lung; he’d never had one himself but a few of the other guys had after taking a bullet or sustaining fractured ribs. “And where is ‘Ulaan’?” he asked so he would know where _not_ to go after this.

The man’s brows narrowed, “did he not send you?” he closed his eyes in pain and rasped out, “Are you not here with reinforcements?” Kyong demanded as fiercely as he could considering the pain radiating from his back and chest.

Tora frowned, debating what to say for a moment, “No, I ran into your messenger. I’m here alone.”

Kyong’s brows pinched, that was good, that meant Mihong had sent him, “when were you marked? Which of my brothers passed?” he grunted in pain, “why are you travelling alone?” he wheezed, desperate to know which of the shadow guard this man was replacing. The rules of their order dictated only five of them could exist at a time.

Tora scowled, he didn’t want to lie but he couldn’t exactly tell this guy he was from the future. “Last month,” he sighed, it was a half-truth; he’d had a tattoo touch up appointment on his leg.

The older man scowled, one of his brothers had been killed a month ago and he hadn’t been informed? He didn’t understand, his correspondence had been fairly regular. His eyes widened in realization, “Sung-ho?” his face saddened as he thought of his dear friend, the oldest and only other remaining member of his generation of Asuran warriors. Sung-ho had remained in the North to organize civilians, with all his movement he hadn’t heard from his brother in weeks. He wondered if malady or blade had finally taken him and was about to ask when the young man spoke.

Tora hardened his gaze and forced himself not to look away as he prepared himself to spit a complete falsehood, “I found your messenger dead, saw your letter and came to lend a hand.”

Kyong’s eyes glazed with grief, “dead?” he whispered, his thoughts of Sung-ho lost as he was overwhelmed by the second sad tiding in as many minutes. Tora nodded solemnly, unwilling to admit his own responsibility in the deed. “Mihong, _my son_ … is dead?” He clarified, his voice wobbling.

Tora forced himself not to react, not to show any kind of emotion. The man he’d killed had only looked ten or so years younger than this man. He wanted to shake his head in confusion; he knew people had kids younger in the past but Jesus Christ that was a small age gap. “Nasty scar?” Tora offered in way of confirmation, thinking of his victim’s face as his own scrunched minutely in confusion. Was the guy he’d killed a traitor to his own father? He’d said ‘ _death to you and your king’_? Maybe he hated his father? It happened right? Not everyone could have a relationship like Poppy had had with her Dad. He knew there was no amount of love lost between Quincey and Vincent.

Kyong fought for air, if the dam on his grief broke he’d be useless to his king, he was already having enough trouble breathing from the stab wound and his previous emotional turmoil, the death of a second son would push him the last foot into his grave. “Yes,” he murmured, his eyes glazing with unshed tears, “my eldest caught his forearm with a blade some years back while sparring. Mihong was my younges-.” He sputtered off into a wheeze, unable to finish the syllable.

Inhaling as normally as possible, Tora’s eyes widened a fraction as the scar he’d seen on the boy face down in the riverbank flashed in his mind’s eye. He inquired as calmly as he could, “Did you send more than one messenger?” Kyong shook his head as he coughed. Keeping his face as placid as possible, Tora fought off the urge to recoil. He hadn’t killed this man’s _son_ , he’d killed the son’s _murderer_. He was sure of it, how else would Scarface have had Mihong’s letter? This man’s son was definitely the body he had left face down on the riverbank. “I’m sorry.” He murmured.

Kyong nodded in appreciation of the condolence, “How did he die?” he rasped.

“Stab wounds, to the back. I don’t think he saw it coming,” Tora replied as evenly as possible.

The older man nodded slightly, his eyes cold and hard, “War to the Tri Kingdoms! You must go to Ulaan, deliver the message before he calls more of our people through the pass. We cannot allow them to be slaughtered! You must tell him! Promise me you’ll go now!” Kyong spat, his anger rousing him a few inches off the cot before he fell back in a wheezing fit.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck._ Tora did not want to get any more involved, Poppy was right, he’d killed somebody important. Somebody who was actively trying to fuck with this ‘Ulaan’ guy, “You need help first,” he muttered, desperate to prolong making any kind of decisions and change the topic. He didn’t want to promise this man he’d do jackshit. 

Kyong shook his head, “I’m not long for this world,” he wheezed, “I will meet my sons at the gates of the underworld and we will cross together tonight. Tell Ulaan. My eldest, Ji-hoon, fell in battle. He was to be my second. Ulaan, he will decide my replacement.” He instructed; his voice cracking as he lost his battle with his grief. Kneeling over Ji-hoon’s body had been his undoing; he’d dropped his guard to grieve his son on the battlefield and the enemy had taken the opportunity to drive a blade through his back. Tora nodded slowly, completely lost as the old man rambled. _Underworld? Ji-hoon? Replacement?_ “My armour,” Kyong wheeze, “give it to Ulaan.”

Tora’s gaze followed the man’s raised finger as he pointed at the trunk on the other side of the room. Cocking a brow he stood and moved towards the chest, wrenching it open, he sighed in reticence before reaching in to remove the leather armour it contained. He sighed again as he turned over the breast plate in his hands, at least Poppy would be pleased. He frowned and turned back towards the cot, “Listen old man, I can’t-” he stopped mid-sentence, disgust overtaking his face. The man was too still. Fuck his life, Tora thought in annoyance. He was the only one breathing again.

~ ~ ~

Poppy sighed and read the letter for the tenth time, wracking her brain, willing herself to remember if she’d seen the name ‘Kyong’ on any of the displays she’d read at the museum. For the life of her though, she couldn’t. She worried her bottom lip, although her gut was telling her otherwise, she hoped that meant that this Kyong guy was not as important as the seal on the letter seemed to indicate. The man knew how to write though, which meant he was educated…which meant he had to be someone with money, and someone with money… meant someone with power. She glanced around the small clearing and then up at her equine companion. Standing, she moved to stroke the horse’s nose. No matter how she looked at it, she didn’t think holding on to this letter was a good idea. Tora was right; when he got back they should burn it. Time travelling was already bad enough, time travelling into a world of unrest was worse. “We’re stuck in a world of shit, aren’t we?” she murmured softly to the horse.

“Depends on who you ask,” a deep voice rumbled from behind her. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! Let me know what you think :) 
> 
> Song:  
> Resistance by Skillet

“Depends on who you ask,” a deep voice rumbled from behind her, Poppy froze, blinking slowly; she turned her head to look at the man sitting on horseback twenty feet from her. “The northerners would argue no, despite creating a world of _shit_ for those others who inhabit it.” She felt her muscles tense to bolt as she glanced up at the ridge willing Tora to reappear. The hostility radiating off the strange man was palpable. “Who are you woman, state your purpose,” he snapped at her, “and what in the Kami’s name are you wearing?” he demanded.

Looking down at her toes, Poppy frowned, contemplating how to stall, her mind flashing back to what the two men they’d met at the river had said about her. They had been northerners, part of Asura’s army. The one had said he didn’t like women of Shan right? She placed a gamble, hoping that meant this guy liked the Shan? Or was one of them? “I am Poppylan, a woman of Shan,” she offered. “I’m wearing a…uh…a gift…from a distant land.” She lied poorly.

Khan narrowed his brows at her as three men on horseback road up behind him, “It’s indecent, you look like a whore.” He spat, his lip pulled back in disgust. Of course she was a whore, the Shan princess was now Asura’s whore, why not the rest of their fucking women too?

Poppy’s fists balled at her sides as she fought to keep her cool, stupidly ignoring the men behind him, “well I’m so sorry you feel that way. I for one, think it’s a nice dress, and I most certainly am _not_ a _whore_!” She snapped right back at him, her eyes fierce.

Digging his heels into his horse’s flanks Khan approached the diminutive woman shouting at him. He eyed her assessingly, she was beautiful, unmarked by disease, clean. He glanced down at her hands, no dirt beneath her nails, her skin soft. He could see no scars, and she spoke to him as though she were used to speaking down to men. He sneered at her, albeit indecent, the woman before him was no whore; he was willing to bet she was at the very least a noble. “What are you doing in the woods alone?” He asked, his voice threatening.

Poppy’s heart hammered in her chest as she glanced up at the ridge behind her, her eyes desperately searching for Tora before returning warily to her unwanted guest, placing another bet. The last guys had been afraid of Tora, maybe this one would be too? “I was kidnapped, by an _Asuran_ warrior. He’s claimed me as his own. He’ll be back any minute.” She warned haughtily, hoping her statement would make the man back off. The slow smile that curled the man’s thin lips filled her with dread as she took a few small steps back; realizing in great distress that she had most definitely just said, the wrong thing.

~ ~ ~

What a nightmare they were in, Tora thought to himself as he tossed the cleanish blankets and the dead man’s dagger into the trunk with the armour. He’d wasted enough time, he needed to get back to Poppy. He glanced around the tent for another brief moment, actively keeping his sightline just above the corpse on the cot. He thought for a sparing moment about grabbing the calligraphy set the man had on his makeshift writing desk for Poppy but what was the point really? Who did they have to write to anyways? Sighing, he glanced at the corpse, “sorry ol’ man.” He muttered, heaving the trunk up into his arms before making his way out of the canvas shelter.

He paused just outside the tent, where the man had dropped his sword when he’d collapsed. Tora eyed it for a moment before setting down the trunk. His fist wrapped around it firmly as his lifted it from the ground, he rotated it in his fist gently a few times, it was heavier than he expected. Swishing it back and forth in midair for a moment, Tora smirked. Not bad. This thing could definitely do some damage, maybe he’d keep it, he thought as he popped open the trunk and rummaged around for the scabbard. He frowned when he couldn’t find it. He glanced back at the tent with a frown, tempted to just forget about the sword, even as his feet were already carrying him back into the shadow of the canvas. This time, he let his eyes roam the floor and there it was, lying haphazardly a few feet from the cot. Keeping his eyes trained on the scabbard, Tora’s fingers gripped the sheath as he promptly turned and left. He would strap it to his back a few moments later after realizing neither newly acquired item fit in the trunk.

Tora growled some explicates to himself as he hauled the trunk up the ridge, he’d thought about just carrying the armour but there were so many god damn pieces he was worried about dropping one of them. He’d also thought about trying to put it on himself but there were so many god damn strings he didn’t imagine he’d get too far on his own. _Poppy better know how the fuck to do this_ , he thought as he crested the top of the ridge. “Poppy, I swear to god woman, of all the harebrained-” he froze as his eyes swept the small empty clearing at the base of the ridge. Where the fuck was she?

His eyes narrowed dangerously as he stomped down the rest of the ridge, dropping the heavy trunk next to the horse. “Where is she?” he muttered to the horse, adjusting the long sword he’d strapped to his back as he scanned the tree line. “Poppy? Sweetheart? Ya taking a piss?” He called out to the treeline hopefully. He frowned when no response greeted him. He glanced back at the horse, her purse was still right there, hanging off the other sword, so where the hell was she? His eyes scanned the clearing more closely this time, his heart clenched as his nostrils flared in fear. There were hoof prints stamped into the ground all around him. He shot a glance over at their horse, still tied to a tree branch too high for Poppy to reach without a stool, which meant someone else had been here. His eyes widened in horror as realization dawned upon him. His fists clenched at his sides as a low growl rumbled within him, he was going to kill whoever had taken her.

~ ~ ~

The thundering of stamping hooves over the forest floor drowned out Haruto’s voice as he called for Ryusaki to slow down, the man’s demands falling on deaf ears. Ryusaki was a man on a mission and not the least bit deterred by the cries of his brother in arms. “God damn it Ryusaki! Slow down! If we keep this pace up for much longer we’ll kill the horses!” Haruto shouted at him angrily.

“I will not!” Ryusaki shouted over his shoulder, “our brothers need us!” Haruto frowned, leaning further forward on his mount, clicking his tongue to encourage his exhausted stallion to move faster. Ryusaki was right, they might only be two men but one fewer had turned the tide of battle before.

Ryusaki gripped the reigns tighter, he knew Haruto spoke true but he couldn’t bring himself to care, all he could see in his mind’s eye was the face of his younger brother and that of his cousin the day he’d left them. He clenched his jaw; fighting off the emotion that threatened to cripple him. The deserters had to be wrong. There was no way, no way they were all dead. It didn’t make any sense! How could a force that big move undetected? How could the general not have known they were coming?

He rounded the last bend that would take him to the ridge and closed his eyes, breathing deeply; centering himself for the sight he knew might greet him. Twenty-one and the view of a battlefield still turned his stomach, _pathetic_ , he thought. “RYU! LOOK OUT!” Haruto bellowed, the sound causing the younger man to pull back on the reigns, his stallion whining in protest as he reared up on his hind legs and took a few steps back before his front legs fell back to earth with a thud.

Tora didn’t so much as blink as he glared up at the man on horseback, his eyes glowing with a fury that made the man before him shudder. It was the warrior from the river, moving faster than Ryusaki could register, Tora had him by the collar, dragging him from the horse, he tossed him to the forest floor, the impact making the small man’s teeth crack together, sending shock waves down his spine.

Ryusaki tossed his head back, throwing his weight back on his palms as a long sword was shoved beneath his chin, the tip of the blade dangerously close to his Adam’s apple. “Where is she?” The warrior rumbled; his voice a low menacing growl. Ryusaki blinked up at the Asuran warrior he and Haruto had stumbled across the other day before glancing back at Haruto who was still astride his mount, stone still, his eyes glued to the scene playing out in front of him.

Ryusaki returned his gaze to the furious warrior before him, trying to make sense of the man’s words after being rattled so hard. “Uh…your woman?” he asked stupidly, letting himself fall back on his elbows as the large man advanced on him, the blade making contact with his skin now. “I – I know not brother. I have not seen her since last we met.” He murmured, his eyes fixed on the blade at his throat.

“He speaks the truth,” Haruto piped up, regretting it immediately when the warrior turned his fiery, hate-filled eyes on him.

Tora pulled back his lip in a snarl, annoyed that the men seemed to be telling the truth, “Why the fuck are you here then? What happened to Olzii?” he demanded, not wanting to waste any time if they truly knew nothing of Poppy’s whereabouts.

Haruto eyed him warily, “we were travelling rather leisurely, we were instructed by Captain Ji-hoon to take a message to another Asuran Warrior stationed at Olzii. Deserters from our company caught up with us, they were fleeing an ambush,” he paused long enough for Ryusaki to spit in distain, “we came back to assist our brothers after dispatching the defectors of course.” Haruto explained.

“Are there survivors?” Ryusaki asked desperately, eyeing the ridge above him from his place on the forest floor.

Tora let his gaze travel between the two men for a long moment before he made a decision, sheathing his sword, sliding it into the scabbard on his back. Ryusaki scrambled to his feet, running headlong towards the ridge, “No.” He growled.

The young man froze at the sound of the other man’s voice, suddenly rooted to the spot, shaking his head in disbelief, “but we were a _whole company_! A hundred and eighty men strong! Lead by an Asuran! How could a force large enough to – and without us knowing? I-” He fell silent, his gaze on his boots before he spun and marched back over to Tora.

Tora glared down as the smaller man gazed up at him, his eyes hard, “I know it is unwise to approach you this way Asuran, but my blood brother and my cousin are among the slain.” He spat, his bottom lip trembling as his fists clenched, “I have heard rumours of the shadow guard, the Asuran warriors. I know you will avenge your fallen comrade, please allow us to enact our own vengeance _with_ you.” He begged forcefully, trying to keep the tremors he felt in his body from his voice.

Haruto slipped from his horse as Tora continued to glare at Ryusaki in silence, “please sir, allow us to accompany you, back to the king.” He murmured quietly.

Tora glared at the other man, then back at the smaller one standing in front of him. Now that his initial rage had had time to subside he was beginning to think clearly again. He was a man displaced and firmly out of his element. Poppy had been taken. He had no idea who had taken her, why, where they’d taken her or how to get her back. He needed help. He didn’t know what the fuck an Asuran was but he would be whatever these men wanted him to be in order to get them to help him find Poppy. “I’m not going to the King until after I find Poppylan.” He explained.

Haruto arched a brow, “your woman?” he questioned as the large man nodded once, slowly. “She was taken?” he asked, “how?” Tora lifted his chin, his eyes fixed meaningfully on the ground around them. Haruto turned slowly in a half circle, his gaze following the small twin indents in the ground until they abruptly ended, taking in the scene that had played out. The woman had obviously dug in her heels as she was dragged backward before being hefted up on a horse. He turned a sympathetic look on the large warrior, “were you on the battlefield?” he asked, his eyes drifting to the top of the ridge.

Tora nodded, his jaw clenched so tightly he thought he might chip a tooth. Poppy was gone, taken into the clutches of god only knew who, who was doing god only knew what to her. He didn’t want to waste another minute chitchatting. Haruto stared at him for a long moment, “we’re with you brother. We’ll help you find your woman and then exact vengeance on the scum that attacked our brethren.” He swore.

Ryusaki nodded, “death to our enemies,” he hissed. 

~ ~ ~

Poppy groaned as her eyelids fluttered open, a dull ache radiating from the back of her skull. She winced in pain as she realized the upside down world around her was not in fact bouncing up and down, no, that would be her body swaying with the horse’s gait. Pressing one hand to the leg of her captor and the other to the shoulder of the brown horse she was sprawled across, she attempted to push herself upright. Her effort was met with a firm hand between her shoulder blades, forcing her back down. “Keep squirming and I’ll hit ya again, ya damn banshee,” a dark voice warned.

She bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain as her nose rammed into the man’s leg as he forced her back down. “Please,” she begged; his knee in her sternum hindering her voice, “the blood is rushing to my head; I have a terrible headache, if I promise not to bite you again would you let me sit up?” She offered in an attempt to negotiate.

The man scoffed above her, “serves ya right bitch.”

“Let her up,” a voice barked from somewhere up ahead. The man above her protested for a moment before halting his horse. Large hands gripped her sides and flipped her onto her back over his thighs before pulling her upright. Poppy’s hands came down heavily, grabbing hold of the man’s forearm in order to steady herself as her stomach lurched at the sudden movement. Breathing deeply, Poppy glanced at the man holding her from beneath her bangs, “thank you,” she murmured.

The man shook his head in disgust, “bite me again and I’ll break ya jaw.” He warned as he released her in favour of taking hold of his reigns, effectively ignoring her as much as he could with his arms wrapped securely around her.

Once reassured she was not in immediate danger of tumbling from the saddle she glanced around. The man that had questioned her was riding ahead of them, his long black hair tied up in a leather thong. There was a man to either side of her astride their mounts. She glanced above her, trying to remember where the sun had been in the sky when she’d been taken, trying to determine how long she’d been unconscious. Tora was going to have a bird when he got back and realized what had happened to her. She bit her lip in distress, thinking of how alone and worried he’d be. She had to get away from these men and back to him. “Where are you taking me?” she whispered to the man pressed against her.

She frowned when he pointedly ignored her, seemingly intent on pretending she was invisible and not very obviously taking up the vicinity of his lap. “Where are you taking me!” she shouted forward to the man a few paces in front of her. Khan rolled his eyes at the woman’s question. Most definitely nobility, she was too bold not to be. It didn’t matter where he was taking her; she ought to be more concerned about what would happen to her when they got there. When she repeated the question once more, he glanced over his shoulder back at her. “Shout out at me again woman and I’ll cut your tongue out,” he warned lazily.

Poppy recoiled at the large man’s words, the back of her head thudding against the man’s chest behind her as she gasped in outraged horror. How could he make a threat like that so…so…she blanched. He reminded her of Vincent, she’d had the displeasure of meeting her boyfriend’s childhood abuser only thrice but it was three times too many. His tone left her with no doubt he meant every horrifying word that had just left his lips. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! Let me know what you think! ♥
> 
> Song:  
> The Boys are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy

Yuwa walked the halls of the palace slowly, her mind wandering as her ladies in waiting flanked her exchanging nervous glances. Their Queen had been too reserved the last hour, saying not a word to any of them as they carried on lively conversations around her. They had grown silent a half hour past and she had not taken notice. “Uh, your highness,” Xi-xi ventured softly at the cajoling of the other ladies, “are you alright?” she inquired.

Blinking, Yuwa returned to the realm of the living from her cloud of thought, “oh, uh, yes, perfectly fine,” she murmured. She grimaced as she realized where her wandering had taken her, no wonder her ladies were worried. “Would you all excuse me please?” she instructed them softly, halting before the double doors to Qiang’s study, her hand on one of the heavy green hooped door handles. She waited until her nodding ladies had continued their promenade without her before yanking open the door, stepping into the study, pulling it closed behind her.

Qiang arched a brow at his unexpected guest, “your highness, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” he inquired, setting his calligraphy pen down as he straightened from his hunched sitting position, gesturing at the cushion on the other side of his desk.

Yuwa waved him off when he moved to stand, lowering herself down onto the cushion unaided. “I wish to discuss the matters of diplomacy and force with you, as my father’s grand advisor I would imagine you have experience with such things,” She offered in explanation for her unannounced arrival.

Tenting his fingers, his elbows resting on his desk, Qiang leaned forward in interest, “yes, a great deal actually. What troubles you princess?” he asked patiently.

“Queen,” Yuwa corrected absentmindedly, too distracted to notice the momentary fury that shadowed Qiang’s face.

“Yes of course, my _Queen_ ,” Qiang corrected, forcing the bitterness from his tone.

Yuwa sighed, feeling conflicted. Qiang had always been a trusted ally, her dearest tutor, but she knew no matter how much trust she placed in him, Ulaan did not feel the same. She couldn’t help but feel that Ulaan would not approve of her visit, nor what she was about to divulge. “I, uh…” she sighed, rolling her head back on her neck to stare at the ceiling. “I wish to be more informed in both the disciplines of diplomacy and the use of military force, I find myself inept in comparison to my husband. I wish to be taken seriously, to present an opinion of value when discussing such matters.” She explained, still somewhat annoyed by Ulaan’s teasing dismissal of her leadership earlier that morning.

Both Qiang’s brows rose as he pushed himself to his feet, circling his desk to take up residence on the pillow opposite his Queen. “The barbarian King does not see the value of your council?” he clarified, a small smile crossing his lips.

Yuwa frown, “I know Ulaan respects me and women, he has told me of his own mother’s fearsomeness, how important her guidance was to him after his father was slain, like you, he is a learned man and sees the value of the softer sex. I fear he simply sees me as ignorant in the ways of warfare.” She explained dejectedly.

Qiang nodded, “your highness, I cannot aid you in advising your husband if you do not provide me the context of his concern.” He stated plainly, refusing to refer to Ulaan as _his_ king. 

She sighed, finally coming to a decision, choosing to trust her tutor, “he fears the Tri Kingdoms are plotting against his desire for Eastern conquest. I know he wants to avoid more bloodshed, orphaned children and widowed wives. He is ferocious when necessary but he is not the evil tyrannical barbarian our people believe him to be. He is a _hero_ to his people.” She studied the placid unmoved face of her tutor. She knew he cared little for his new Northern King but she hoped his love for her would convince him to aid her husband. “And my loyalties lie with him now, even if some of my own people still whisper that I am a traitor to Shan.” She spat her position clearly, hoping her tutor would understand how firmly she stood on that point, “So I ask, at what point do I push him to consider necessary force? Or do I advise to wait longer? I imagine the coordination of three kingdoms into a peaceful agreement must be more difficult than simple diplomacy between two regions. After all, my handmaids cannot even agree on the colour of my outer robe when there are more than two of them in my dressing room. I can only imagine the complexities of running interconnected kingdoms of that size.” She sympathized, flipping her palms skyward as she thrust them out to her sides.

Reclining back in his seat, Qiang scratched the top of one of his hands gently as he considered his princesses plight, debating how to respond. His plan had backfired spectacularly. Not only had Asura failed to die during his last ploy, the commander he’d bribed had been beheaded. He fought the urge to cringe; even Yuwa had fallen under the infuriating man’s spell, her loyalties shifting away from him and towards his enemy. Alas, despite all this, he remained undeterred. Asura would die if it was the last thing he achieved. He smirked to himself, what kind of a man would he be if he didn’t repay his debts after all? “I would advise your husband to wait. His hold of the East is tentative. A rash and brash show of force against the Tri Kingdoms could result in the eruption of more hate and distrust towards him, not to mention rebellions. I know the Qi Lian have been rather troublesome for him. I don’t imagine he’d appreciate three more fallen kingdoms ambushing his supply trains and immigrant caravans with guerrilla warfare tactics.” He offered, trying to sound as disinterested as possible.

“Or, if he does wish to proceed with military force, I would suggest decimation,” he sighed, feigning disgust at the idea.

Yuwa’s brows rose, “decimation?” she repeated in bewilderment.

He nodded, “yes, kill every tenth citizen, in addition to every soldier. That way there can be no rebellion, well, not until their sons grow. Unless of course your husband is willing to kill children,” he added, eyeing her rounded stomach meaningfully.

“HE WOULD NEVER!” Yuwa protested, her hands cradling the life she and Ulaan had created.

Qiang nodded in feigned agreement, “best to advise him to wait then your highness. Now, if that is all, I wish to return to my correspondence, I wish you the best of luck in persuading your husband as you converse with him on this issue.” He told her as he pushed himself from the floor, reaching down to help her to her feet.

Yuwa smoothed her dress as he released her, “thank you for your time,” she murmured, taking a small step towards the door.

He smiled at her back, “I will always have time for you princess.” He told her, “Sorry, my _Queen_ ,” he corrected, pretending the slight had been just another slip of the tongue as she paused in the doorway before glancing back at him, her brows narrowing in slight confusion. “Was there something else?” He prompted. She shook her head and slipped out through the door.

Once she was gone, Qiang took his seat at his desk, pulling a piece of parchment from his pile.

_Ambush at White Lake successful. We hold the pass. Wu is with us, the Shu and Wei require more persuasion._

_-Khan_

His lips pressed into a tight line, Qiang scribbled his reply,

_The Shu at the least must be convinced. The child comes two months hence. Asura is hesitant to move on the Tri Kingdoms but we are running out of time. He will not still his hand much longer._

~ ~ ~

Poppy bit her lip in contemplation as she sat with crossed arms watching her captors break for their midday meal. They hadn’t even bothered to tie her up! The leader among them had just pointed at her ferociously and growled that if she tried to run he would ‘hobble her’. Having a heavy hammer taken to her ankles did not sound like a pleasing outcome, thus her stillness. Instead, she focused on their conversation, trying to gleam whatever she could about her captors.

“Where the fuck is that son of a bitch? Are you sure you can trust him with this Khan?” The burly man that had shared his horse with her asked.

Khan, their apparent leader, shrugged, “if he failed we’ll know soon enough.” He replied not the least bit concerned about his younger brother.

“We’ll be dead soon enough if he failed,” a teenage boy with short black hair growled.

The last man in the group hit him upside the back of the head, “don’t you dare speak to your king that way boy!”

Poppy cocked her head to the side, intrigued by the interaction, Khan seemed unaffected by the boy’s words aside from the sudden slowing of his chewing. “Sorry father, I apologize my king, I speak out of turn. Forgive me.” The boy muttered.

Khan nodded, “wariness of your enemy is healthy, fear is not,” he murmured, “fear makes you weak, frozen. Fear gets you killed.”

Poppy’s saddle companion and the older man nodded as the boy glared at Khan. “I’m not afraid,” he spat. Poppy sunk her teeth deep into her lip to prevent herself from commenting, the boy’s trembling certainly seemed to negate his statement, the poor kid looked like he wanted to cry, “Asura killed my mother, my sisters, my brother. I do not fear him! I fear never getting the opportunity to drive my blade through his black heart!” He cried out passionately, his animated declaration taking Poppy a back as she realized she had mistaken his rage filled trembling for terror.

The burly man patted the boy’s shoulder, “I share your rage son but like fear, rage makes you foolish. Weak. You must have a clear head. The restoration of Qian Li is more important than avenging your family.” Poppy studied the four men closely, the oldest man, the boy’s father, did not appear to share the man’s sentiment if his balled fists and the angry set of his eyes seemed to say anything.

The old man sneered at the burly man, “easy to say when it was not your kin that were ravaged and murdered while you fought to protect others. Tell me Haru, where exactly where you when my wife was slaughtered?”

The burly man narrowed his gaze, “watch it old man,” he warned icily.

The old man sneered at him, preparing to lunge before Khan raised his hand, stilling both of them. “We fight for Qian Li. _All_ of Qian Li, every citizen that fell to a Northern sword, both royalty and peasant alike. We are small in number; do not let your personal vendettas cloud your vision and divide us further. Your family will be avenged. As will mine,” Poppy shuddered at the ominous tone of his voice, “I promise you that. The Northerners will not stay.”

“That’s what you think,” Poppy whispered under her breath with a scowl. She could only imagine how furious it would make this Khan guy if she were to tell him not only was Asura going to stay in the East, he would conquer all of the lands surrounding them and his bloodline would rule for the next few hundred years.

The burly man nodded, “how long will we wait for Callan?” he asked.

Khan sighed and bit off another piece of stale bread, taking the time to chew in thought for a moment before responding. “A day at most. If he doesn’t meet us at the lake we can assume he failed. In which case we will need to join the Wu and the rest of our forces at the pass.” He glanced over at Poppy meaningfully, “In any case, his success or failure doesn’t matter. Her Asuran knows of the attack. If Callan succeeded in killing the messenger he’s only bought us another day at most. I’m sure her lover rides to the demon king now to inform him. We’ve lost our element of surprise. Our time has run out. We will have to make a stand.”

“But the Shu-” Haru started before he was cut off.

“With or _without_ the Shu,” Khan hissed.

The boy glanced back at Poppy then over at Khan, “forgive me for asking my lord but what makes you so sure the Asuran rides to his king and not after her,” he asked, lifting his chin meaningfully towards Poppy.

Khan smirked darkly, “would you prioritize cunt over country? From what I’ve been told, Asurans value their honour to their king over all else. He rides to the Barbarian, I assure you.”

Poppy pulled back her lip in a silent snarl at the insult, Tora was most definitely coming for _her_ and she couldn’t wait to see the look on this guy’s face when he finally showed up. 

The boy arched a brow in question as he glanced once again at the woman, who looked decidedly unperturbed. He chose to keep his mouth shut as he bit into his own bread but remained unconvinced of Khan’s words.

~ ~ ~

Tora remained silent as Haruto and Ryusaki rode ahead of him, following the trail Poppy’s captors had left. He sighed, feeling grateful for the help; he didn’t know the first thing about tracking. He rolled his shoulder, the armour feeling unnatural and awkward. Not as awkward however as having his new ‘friends’ dress him in it. Aside from Quincey, he’d never had another man touch him so intimately outside of a wrestling match. They’d taken one look at his trunk and just set to work. He’d ditched his t-shirt for one of the long sleeve linen tunics in the chest so his forearm greaves wouldn’t be on his bare skin. Keeping one hand on the reigns he reached over and adjusted one of them slightly, tugging on it to let air beneath. He was so fuckin’ uncomfortable, fuck him if he wasn’t going to wear it though. The look his two new tag alongs had given him once he was dressed resembled the look he’d seen on Pinky’s face the first time the man had met him.

Haruto glanced back over his shoulder at the hulking man riding behind him, the scowl on his face rather fearsome. Sighing, he shifted on his horse and turned to Ryusaki, “I almost pity the man that took her you know,” he commented.

Ryusaki raised a brow in amusement and smirked, “I can’t wait to see him in battle.”

~ ~ ~

Ulaan smiled widely at his brethren as Sukh, Atlan and Batu roared a greeting to him from the great hall below him. Taking the stairs two at a time he rushed down to meet the men who were closer to him than his own kin. “Did you ride all night? How did you get here so fast?” He inquired happily as Sukh clapped him on the shoulder.

Batu, the largest among them laughed, “We did, Kota said your prissy ass was missin’ us, plus I wanted to see that _wife_ of yours again,” he teased, wagging his brows at his king.

“I imagine she must be about the size of a small boulder by now,” Atlan joked, unstrapping his sword from his hip before tossing it on the wide table beside him.

Sukh smirked, “ignore them, it’s good to see you Ulaan,” he said sincerely, embracing his king and childhood friend. “I hope your wife fares well?” he whispered in Ulaan’s ear as he pulled away.

Ulaan held fast to his shoulders, nodding, “yes, yes all is well with her, what of my kingdom? My people?” he asked, gesturing at the table for the men to sit.

Batu yawned, lacing his hands behind his head as he reclined in his chair, “Xx is a bore, Chen scurries around the palace like a mouse, Olzii is thriving. I’m a little jealous of Sukh, you never give me the fun assignments,” he whined, “I have nothing to do; I miss the din of battle.”

Ulaan rolled his eyes, a pleased grin on his face, “That’s because there’s little difference between you and that hammer you swing around,” he explained, gesturing at the large war hammer Batu had tossed on the table next to Altan’s sword. “Qian Li and the Tri Kingdoms require diplomacy, a talent of which you are severely lacking,” he teased good naturedly.

Shrugging in amusement Batu smirked, “I feel being the human embodiment of a battering ram suits me just fine, I have yet to come across a problem I couldn’t solve with my fists,” he explained.

Both Sukh and Ulaan groaned, “that’s only because we’ve been busy cleaning up the devastation in your wake since we were boys!” Atlan explained haughtily, rolling his eyes, his long pony tail swaying in disgust as he lifted his pointed nose towards the man that more resembled a grizzly bear than a human being.

Laughing heartily, Batu smiled at the lean, fine featured man berating him, “admit it Atlan, your life is dull when I’m not around to keep you ‘busy’,” he teased. When Atlan rolled his eyes, Batu unlaced his fingers and placed both hands on the table, leaning towards the man opposite him, “come on, admit you like me more than your scrolls!” he cajoled.

Ulaan and Sukh watched on in amusement as the two other men continued to bicker, “what of Qian Li?” Ulaan asked, turning his attention away from his brothers.

Sighing, Sukh rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “I wish I had better news for you Ulaan, I feel like every time I turn around I’m fighting off another attack. They’re relentless and proud. I’m starting to fear they will never submit,” he explained sadly.

Nodding, Ulaan sighed, “I feared as much, did you find out who leads them? Perhaps if we can cut off the snake head the body will wither and die without it?” he asked hopefully.

“Mmmm,” Sukh grunted, “I do not have a name but he is rumoured to be a bastard of the Qian Li king, killing the rest of the bloodline has them grasping at straws for who should inherit their crumbling throne.”

Ulaan arched a brow, “a bastard? Why is a name so difficult to pin down then?” he asked conversationally.

“Because the King of Qian Li had a harem and a maid staff he actually used,” Atlan scoffed, causing Ulaan to grin knowingly at him, not even mildly surprised he’d been listening in on the conversation while carrying on with Batu. It was his attention to detail and his ability to multitask that had inspired Ulaan to send him as ambassador to the Tri Kingdoms.

“What do I need a Harem for when I have Yuwa?” Ulaan teased, “it’s not my fault none of you have yet to find a woman worthy of taking as wife.”

Batu winked at him, “I for one rather enjoyed the attention of those ‘unused’ ladies when we were younger, why should I have one when I can have ten?” he boasted.

The other three men grinned at him, “he puts on a brave face but ever since Xi-xi rejected his suit he’s been inconsolable,” Atlan explained amusedly to Ulaan and Sukh.

The bear of a man’s face faltered slightly, “oh quit your chattering, what the fuck do you know anyways?” he snarled.

Atlan arched a brow deviously, “I know for a fact you’d take that handmaid to wife in an instant if she’d but say yes,” he teased, remembering how Batu had trailed the poor woman like a lost dog the last time they’d been at the palace together.

Looking utterly defeated, Batu spat, “we can’t all be blessed with pretty faces like Sukh,” more than a little jealous of the ease with which his Asuran brother attracted the fairer sex.

Ulaan bit his tongue, fighting his inclination to help Batu, knowing if he offered his wife’s friend to his warrior against her wishes Yuwa would have his head. Sukh however, was not privy to this fact, “if you’re that besotted with her, just ask Ulaan for her,” he muttered disinterestedly.

Batu and Atlan looked at Ulaan expectantly as their king fidgeted slightly in his seat, “well…I would but you see, she, uh…she’s rather dear to Yuwa and I’d hate to separate them.”

Sighing disappointedly, Batu slumped in his seat, eclipsing the chair beneath him. When he’d found Xi-xi lost in the woods after her run in with the bandits that had captured Yuwa he’d scared the living daylights out of her. He hadn’t meant to, he just had that effect on everyone but Ulaan and the other Asurans. He supposed being even larger than the ‘Barbarian demon king’ didn’t help him any. At heart though, he would be the first to admit he was more of a stuffed bear than the grizzly he was often compared to; and the sweet little handmaid had taken his heart with her when he’d unceremoniously dropped her at Shan’s boarder before returning to Ulaan in the north. “I would not force her to leave the Queen’s side, she could reside wherever pleases her,” he murmured, his bravado long forgotten. 

Gazing at him with regret, Ulaan lamented, “I will speak to Yuwa, perhaps she can persuade Xi-xi to see the good man beneath that hair,” he teased, gesturing at the full beard and loose mane that was almost as wild as the man it belonged to.

Atlan and Sukh exchanged grins, “In other words, you need to ask your wife permission before promising her maid to a man,” Sukh teased, elbowing Ulaan in the ribs.

Ulaan responded by reaching over to tug harshly on one of the attractive man’s twin braids hanging over his shoulders, pulling his head to the side, “keep talking and I’ll saddle you with a wife,” he threatened the promiscuous lean muscled man.

Sukh raised his hands in defeat, “now that would just be cruel for the poor woman you chose,” he argued, “unlike Batu, I actually would prefer to have ten,” he teased.

Rolling his eyes, Ulaan stood from the table, “Atlan, join me in my quarters, I wish to discuss Wu, Shu and Wei with you,” he explained, holding the sharp slender man’s gaze, “and you two,” he spat, eying Batu and Sukh, “go bathe, you both stink.”

“That’s the thanks we get after riding all night to see _your_ ass?” Batu hollered after his king and brother in arms as they retreated from the room.

“Xi-xi likes roses,” Ulaan shouted back, “perhaps you’d have more luck with her if you smelled of flowers instead of yak and wet dog.”

Sukh couldn’t help the belly laugh that erupted at the contemplative look that crossed Batu’s face at their king’s words.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a heavy chapter with our leading ladies being angry feisty badasses. Trigger warning for reference to women's abuse. Our first bit of smut coming in the next chapter update.  
> Enjoy! 
> 
> Song: Woman by Kesha

“So, Haru, what are my chances of you letting me off this horse to stretch my legs?” Poppy ventured hopefully.

The large burly man behind her blinked down at her in annoyance, this was the seventh request she’d made to stop. He knew she was small and obviously not used to riding but he was seriously beginning to wonder if she was simply stalling, “The same as the last time you asked: non-existent,” he growled, still annoyed he’d been saddled with the woman again today. He wouldn’t mind so much if he’d been permitted to touch her but Khan had strictly forbidden it when he’d approached her the previous night. ‘No breeding with the Shan, she’s too violent,’ Khan had ordered, demanding he step away from the curvaceous woman in his lap. Easy for him to say when her plump little ass hadn’t been nestled against _his_ groin all damn day.

Poppy wiggled uncomfortably, trying to readjust. Riding for hours at a time was unpleasant to say the least, her bottom was killing her, she was sure it had to be bruised. “When will we reach the lake then?” she inquired, desperate to get off the animal and the horse beneath her.

Haru scowled, his eyes fixed on Khan’s back in front of him, “stop talking,” he barked in frustration, looking forward to being rid of the woman.

Crossing her arms in annoyance Poppy did her best to hold her body away from his, she’d decided that morning that if Tora didn’t show up by the time they reached the lake, she’d need to stop waiting for him and just save herself. Khan had yet to inform her as to his purpose for taking her but from the utter disgust he gazed at her with she didn’t imagine it was anything good.

~ ~ ~

Tora dug his heels into the mare beneath him, urging her to move faster, thanking Quincey for forcing him to learn how to ride as teens. They’d come across the remains of a campfire that morning and Ryusaki had promised him that Poppy’s captors couldn’t be more than a few hours ahead of them now. He’d been relieved to find the Balthuman symbol Poppy had very obviously traced in the dirt beside a tree a few feet from the campfire. It did wonders to assuage his anxiety that they were following the right people. “I’m coming Poppy,” he murmured, his words whipped away by the wind.

~ ~ ~

Yuwa knocked gently on her husband’s door, “Enter!” his deep voice called out to her. Pushing it open, she made her way inside, smiling at the four other men seated around Ulaan’s war table. “Ah,” Ulaan grinned at her, pushing himself up from his seat at the head of the table so he could meet her at the doorway, “have Kyong and Sung-ho arrived?” he inquired, surprised to see her so soon after breaking their fast that morning.

“Not yet,” She placed a hand on his chest and gazed up at him apprehensively before explaining her interruption, “I wish to sit in on your council meeting…to learn.”

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Ulaan backed her out into the hall and closed the door on the men behind him. “You wish to what?” he asked in bewilderment.

Taking a deep breath, Yuwa took one of his hands in both of hers, “I want to learn more about military tactic, as a ruler of this kingdom don’t you think it’s my duty to educate myself? Should I not-”

Ulaan cut her off, frowning at her, “war is stressful, I would not have you worry in your condition,” he objected, his gaze drifting down to her belly, swollen with their child.

Scowling, Yuwa protested, “You think I’m not already worried? The way you tossed and turned in your sleep last night kept me up all night. Let me share this burden with you. I will not speak if you do not wish it but I should be included!”

“The Shan do not educate their women in the ways of war,” he pointed out, still confused as to why she would want this.

Her gaze growing cold, Yuwa levelled him with a look, “I thought I was a Northerner now? Am I not wife to Asura? Was your mother not your greatest advisor after your father’s demise?” she growled.

Ulaan’s brows rose high on his forehead, “my mother was a warrior,” he argued, seeing little in common between the woman who’d raised him and the woman he called wife. Yuwa was soft in all the ways his mother had been hard.

“And I will be mother to many warriors, should I not learn how to guide them should you follow the same fate as your father?” she spat angrily; annoyed he was truly trying to dismiss her again.

Squeezing her hands Ulaan smiled goofily at her, “ _many_ warriors?” he teased deeply amused by the idea.

Rolling her eyes she nodded, “as many as you see fit to give me,” she agreed.

Smiling broadly at her, he appeased her, “Very well, little doll, you can join us,” _if only for the sake of our future_ ‘ _warriors_ ’ he added in his head, chuckling softly to himself. Releasing her hands, he opened the door and ushered her in before closing it behind her. Pulling out a seat for her at the far end of the table, he waited until she settled before taking his seat at the head of the table again; ignoring the confused gazes of his brethren and befuddled General.

Looking down the table and over his battle map at his wife he smiled to himself at the contented look on her face, her hands folded over her baby bump as she listened and waited intently. “Atlan, please share your news from the Tri Kingdoms with our Queen,” he ordered, a smirk playing at the edges of his lips as he fought to keep a straight face.

Looking back and forth between his king and queen in bafflement Atlan replied, “there is great tension between Wu, Shu and Wei. Wei urges Shu and Wu to sign a treaty with us. Wu resists me at every turn, being closest to Qian Li, I fear they still hold sympathy for the crushed kingdom. Their history of entwined alliances runs deep. Although they have not outright refused me, they are the most hostile in negotiations. Shu, the largest and most powerful of the three,” Atlan added for his Queen’s benefit, “seems to be distracted with other matters. Although present at all negotiations, another trouble weighs heavily on him.”

Smirking, Ulaan pushed, “tell her,” he insisted at Atlan’s uncertain expression.

Arching a brow quizzically in Ulaan’s direction he continued, “The king of Shu wishes to be rid of his wife. She has yet to give him an heir and it is rumoured they cannot stand to be in the same room together let alone the bedchamber. Having met her myself, the woman is not very demure. If anything Queen Namuunaa reminds me very much of a man...”he trailed off, unsure how his Queen would receive the news given her gender.

Yuwa arched a brow in interest and gestured for him to continue talking. Blinking in mild surprise, Atlan continued, “I think, were we to aid him in this matter, Shu would be more amiable to our discussions of peaceful land acquisition.”

“So what, we kill her for him? Pretty sure he’s had more practice at killing wives than we have; what would he need our help for?” Batu questioned, picking up the conversation where they’d left off before Yuwa had interrupted them.

Sukh rolled his eyes, “getting rid of his Queen is not the issue, it’s finding him a suitable replacement,” he explained.

“And doing so before the Qian Li rebels do,” Atlan added.

“Bah!” Kota spat, “they’re _Easterners_ , they’re just a bunch of farmers. I still say we should just _crush_ them!” he argued animatedly.

Batu nodded in agreement, ever one for physical force, “I’m with the General, women have no role in this. Forget his wife, if he’s that displeased with her he shouldn’t have wed her. I say we take the land before winter.”

Atlan scowled, “don’t be short sighted! Outright warfare would raze the land, ruining the crop, and then what would our forces eat you numbskulls? Besides, the East is a sleeping giant. They’ve used the negotiation time to build their militaries and the Qian Li would join forces with them in a heartbeat. The East will not be as easily won as the West. Shu is not Xx,” he spat, “there would be more bloodshed than Qian Li and Shan combined.”

Leaning on his fist Sukh sighed, “what if we offer Shu her sister?” he asked Ulaan directly, hooking his thumb down towards Yuwa, “that would really piss the Qian Li off after she was almost their Queen, plus it would unit our kingdom with Shu through blood. Kinda hard to say no to your brother-in-law right?” he offered.

Yuwa bit her tongue, trading concerned looks with her husband throughout the discussion, surprised by the bickering going on. It sounded less like a serious war council and more like the palace wards quarrelling in the training yard. She lost all traces of ease at Sukh’s suggestion however.

Ripping his gaze away from his distressed wife, Ulaan eyed Sukh, picking up one of his marble wolf heads, rolling it between his fingers, “I think that unwise, I imagine you still remember Yugen from your time escorting her back to Shan?” he reminded his man at arms, “I don’t imagine she would be any more agreeable for him than his current wife.”

Sukh laughed, “oh she’s a piece of work alright, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that mouth but that face is pleasing enough, certainly a step up from the countenance of a man,” he shrugged ignoring Atlan who appeared to want to interject.

“As long as she’s seen not heard I don’t think there’ll be a problem. Not like Shu’s looking for a love match like Batu over here,” Sukh teased gesturing at the large man, “Shu just needs a pretty face and a fertile place to pump his seed right? Our Queen fell pregnant quick enough, why not her sister?” he clarified before glancing down the table at the wide eyed horrified expression of his Queen, “no offence your majesty,” he added before turning his attention back to his king.

Atlan frowned, when he’d said Queen Namuunaa reminded him of a man he’d hadn’t meant she looked like one.

Ulaan grimaced, knowing his wife was not used to this type of talk, “I doubt Yugen would stay quiet for long. Besides, she’s been quite adamant with her father and Yuwa that she has no desire to be wed again,” he explained, “especially not to a monster like Yumo.”

Sukh’s face contorted in disgust, “if it’s for the good of the kingdom who cares what she _wants_?” he insisted, “she’ll do as she’s damn well told. I’ll drag her there kicking and screaming myself if need-”

“You’ll do no such thing to my sister!” Yuwa shrieked causing all five men to turn their gazes on her as her tiny fist banged against the table top.

Ulaan nodded, “of course, calm yourself, Sukh is merely exploring our options,” he attempted to appease her, a little surprised by her reaction. Yuwa was well aware that women were often used as pawns to seal men’s alliances; she herself had acted as guarantee of alliance between he and her father. Despite that, she should know him well enough by now that he would never act on Sukh’s suggestion.

“Do not tell me to ‘ _calm down_ ’ Ulaan,” she snapped.

The four men around them looked back and forth between husband and wife, waiting for Ulaan’s reaction. Their king frowned at his wife, “remember where you are Yuwa,” he warned her icily feeling the weight of his men’s gazes on him. If they were alone he’d placate her, but allowing her to sit in on this meeting was allowance enough for one day, and a gesture of good will towards her desire for equality between them that did not exist outside their marriage. He would not however, allow her to speak that way to him in front of the most powerful men of the North.

Batu sighed loudly, doing his best to break the tension between his rulers, hoping to earn him some favour with his Queen, “lay off Ulaan, the woman is pregnant and you kidnapped her against her will. She’s simply worried about her sister falling into the same position but with an ugly evil old man. Not everyone gets your happy little fairy tale ya know. Besides, wasn’t it you who refused to give me rights to Xi-xi last night?” turning a grin towards Yuwa he added, “he says I can’t have her without your permission Queen mother,” he teased, winking at her.

Atlan and Sukh sat unmoved, bored expressions on their faces as Kota chuckled, barely masking a smug look.

Yuwa’s mouth hung open, flabbergasted by her husband’s closet friends and advisors. She’d never seen this side of them. They had always been nothing but chivalrous in her presence. Closing her mouth, she scowled at Batu, “Xi-xi is capable of making her own decisions, if you want her, you’ll need to ask _her_ for permission, she is not mine _or Ulaan’s_ to give,” she replied coolly. “And you,” she seethed, pinning Sukh with a glare, “my sister is not a pawn for you to play with.” Turning her attention to Atlan, she frowned, “no matter Shu’s disappointment with his wife, she is also a person. I cannot condone your plan to eliminate or replace her,” she murmured. 

Glaring at her husband, she replied coldly, “I know perfectly well where I am, do not forget that I am your _Queen_ and these men are just as much mine to command as yours, I submit to no one, not even _you_ , and especially not _them_ ,” she sneered before pushing herself up to a standing position under the weight of her husband’s hard stare. “I’ll see myself out, I have my own duties to attend to,” she added, heading to the door.

Ulaan’s knuckles turned white around the marble wolf head in his hand as Yuwa slammed the door behind her, more than mildly annoyed she’d thrown his own words back at him. When he’d reminded her of her status the first night they’d made love he’d meant in _private_ she should not bow to him, not in the middle of his fucking war counsel! “Well, wasn’t that entertaining?” Batu muttered cheerily, seemingly unaffected by the tongue lashing. “You know something Ulaan, she reminds me a little of your ma, brings back memories, being told off like that ya know?” he teased, smiling widely at the small grin crossing Sukh’s face as he reminisced.

Kota chuckled, “ya know just a few nights ago I was telling his majesty-” he stopped abruptly as Ulaan stood and marched towards the door, slamming it behind him.

Atlan sighed and slumped in his chair, “and here I was hoping we’d get somewhere today,” he murmured.

Sukh winked at him, “sorry Atlan, women have a way of derailin’ us,” he teased.

Rolling his eyes he pushed himself to his feet, “that is exactly why I only keep the company of other men, women are nothing but a distraction and a means of reproduction,” Atlan muttered. “I’ll be in the bath house if Ulaan returns and actually wants to finish this conversation,” he explained, circling the table towards the doors.

Batu nodded, “speaking of women, I think I might take this opportunity to go hunt down my future wife,” he commented, standing to follow Atlan out.

“Ya scare her,” Sukh called after the mountain of a man.

Shrugging Batu grinned over his shoulder at him, “but I smell like flowers, flowers aren’t scary,” he teased before disappearing from view as Sukh shook his head in amusement.

“So how long before Ulaan sets his wife straight?” Sukh asked turning to Kota next to him, the only other person left at the table.

Kota laughed, “You mean how long before his Queen accepts _his apology_? Not sure, they’ve never fought like this as far as I’m aware.”

Sukh furrowed his brows, “what are you talking about?”

Turning his head towards Sukh, the older man cast the younger one with a patient smile, “I’m fairly certain this is the first time our Queen has challenged his majesty in public, if ever. Not sure how he’s going to handle it. However, I don’t expect the Queen has any real reservations of telling all of us to go to hell though. She’s quite the woman.”

~ ~ ~

Poppy stumbled as Haru dropped her unceremoniously from their mount, causing her to grab onto the reigns to steady her wobbling legs. Gazing out ahead of her, she took in the beautiful lake vista around them. Standing on the shoreline she grinned, large trees surrounded them, playing perfectly into her plan. She knew outrunning these men was not an option but if she could get enough of a head start she might just be able to scurry up a tree and be lost to them as they rode on. Glancing over at Khan as Haru brushed past her, she lost her smile. It was a lousy plan, and assumed a lot of stupidity on her captors’ part but it was the only thing she could come up with. She’d thought about stealing a horse but she had no idea how to ride, she’d thought about reaching for the dagger in Haru’s boot and fighting but Tora had only taught her the barest of basics and she doubted she’d be very successful against one man, let alone four.

Sighing, she pet the horse, glad the men were paying her no real mind again. She glanced at the lake; maybe going for a swim was a better option? They were on a timeline from what she’d gathered the other day from their conversations. Perhaps she could swim out to the middle of the lake? Waste enough time that they left without her? She was a decent swimmer, and it would take them awhile to get out of their armour to pursue her so they wouldn’t drown. She definitely had the upper hand in her sundress and flats. It’d take her all of three seconds to kick off her shoes and run into the lake. Then again it wasn’t like she could tread water forever and if they were willing to wait long enough she’d have to come back to the shallows so that she didn’t drown herself. She grimaced, her options were limited and none of her ideas seemed sound.

Releasing the reigns, she took a few steps towards the shore before sitting down, kicking off her shoes and dipping her feet in the water. It was warm, given the heat of the summer; at least she wasn’t at risk of hypothermia if she did decide the water was her best option. She jumped as a shadow crossed her before Huan, the youngest of her captors, sat down beside her. Poppy studied his face for a moment, the crease of his brows, and the angry flat line of his mouth. “You really hate the Northerners don’t you?” she murmured before she could remind herself to hold her tongue.

Huan turned his head to glare at her, “Khan told me not to let you get any closer to the water,” he muttered, ignoring her question.

Poppy chuckled self-deprecatingly; perhaps she was being watched closer than she thought, “what? He thinks I’m gonna drown myself?” she breathed hoping her desperation didn’t seep into her tone.

Shrugging, Huan wrapped his arms around his bent knees, “you wouldn’t be the first woman to kill herself in this kind of situation,” he agreed.

Blinking at him wide eyed Poppy’s mouth gaped for a moment before she recovered, “and just what kind of situation am I in exactly? If you haven’t noticed, no one’s told me anything,” she explained, trying her best to keep her rising panic and frustration out of her voice.

Sighing deeply the boy glanced at his father and his other two travel companions before looking back at her. “Khan plans to offer you to the Shu as a vessel for his heirs, if the Shu refuses you, he plans to toss you to the Wu warriors as a pleasure slave,” he explained.

Sitting up ramrod straight Poppy forced the nausea to retreat in her stomach at his words, “the Shu?” she whispered quietly.

“Mmm,” Huan grunted in agreement.

“Who’s he?” Poppy murmured.

Huan eyed her sceptically, Khan was sure this woman was noble; he however, was not convinced, especially given her obvious lack of tutelage. After all, he was nothing more than a stable boy and even he knew the rulers, “Yumo, the king of the Shu. The central power of the Tri Kingoms. He’s on his fifth wife and has yet to father an heir. Khan thinks he’s impotent. I mean, one woman no heir: she’s probably barren, five women no heir: the problem is probably with him,” Huan elaborated with a shrug.

The woman was silent as Huan eyed her, seeking a reaction. She was pretty enough; if Khan could actually pass her as a noble of Shan he saw no reason why Yumo would refuse her. Frankly, if Khan offered her to _him_ he’d be hard pressed to refuse. Yumo was a fool if he said no. Distractedly, he admired her, wondering how her teeth were so white or her hair so shiny.

Poppy frowned, “why would I kill myself?” she whispered.

Huan shrugged, “Yumo’s wives disappear, there were rumours in the Qian Li palace among the nobles that he beat them to death. He’s not a man I’d want to be tied to in your shoes. I think being given to the Wu army though, that’d be the thing I’d want to avoid more.”

She chuckled nervously, “sounds more like you’re trying to convince me to walk into this lake rather than prevent me from doing it,” she pointed out.

Sitting stone still Huan stared out across the water, “my father sold my eldest sister to a man of shit repute. I would not wish her fate on any woman,” he whispered ominously.

Shuddering, Poppy closed her eyes and fought off a new wave of nausea. She refused to believe she and Tora has been sent back in history for this. The Kami wouldn’t do this to her, it was too cruel, “how would giving me to him win Khan any favour if I won’t produce him an heir either,” she pointed out logically.

Khan sneered behind her as she jumped at the sound of his voice, “you said the Asuran claimed you, you best pray his seed took root,” he warned, standing over her.

Poppy paled, forcing her eyes out over the lake, refusing to look at the man behind her. How in the world did she possibly explain the pill to mediaeval men? She wanted to scream that no matter how many times she and Tora had been intimate she’d only fall pregnant when she chose to. Stomach rolling, she pushed herself to her feet. “If you really want that, I’m surprised you told off Haru last night,” she spat, the tiny bit of respect she’d had for his morals falling by the wayside.

Khan smirked at her, “and risk bruising your body or marring that face when you fought back? No. I think not. You’ll look every part the noble _willing_ woman when I present you to the Shu.”

The glare Poppy pinned him with was glacial, _over my **dead body** , screw Tora I’m savin’ myself, _she thought viciously.


End file.
